
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



ciiap.t.J..t?Copyright No. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



□ UR HDST, 




Y(> tcl(/Kok 



A FLIGHT IN SPRING 



IN THE CAR LUCANIA FROM NEW YORK 
TO THE PACIFIC COAST AND BACK 
DURING APRIL AND MAY, 1898, /s TOLD 
BY THE REV. J. HARRIS KNOWLES 



^ 



NEW YORK 
1898 






SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES PRIVATELY PRINTED 
FOR FREDERICK HUMPHREYS, M.D. 



No. ..CZ:..A...O.. 



Copyright, 1898, by 
J. HARRIS KNOWLES 




:»V\\'b(Qe>^v'W^S t^-KO^ 



Bebtcatlon 

TO THE LUCANIANS: 

"THE KING AND THE QUEEN" 
"THE APOSTLE AND THE ANGEL" 
"THE FAIRY PRINCESS" 
"JUNO AND PSYCHE" 
"THE GYPSY QUEEN" 
"THE PRINCESS" 
"MINERVA AND JUPITER" 
"MERCURY," AND 
"THE SPANISH COUNT" 

THESE RANDOM JOTTINGS OF OUR HAPPY 
"FLIGHT IN SPRING," ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

BY THEIR FRIEND 

"THE POPE" 



CONTENTS 



I 

PAGE 

The Circumstances of the Flight.— The Start.— The 
Car " Lucania." — The Kitchen. — The Cook. — The 
Poetic Dinner. — Our Accommodations. — Visitors 
at Newark. — Improvised Theatricals. — Philadel- 
phia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington. — The 
Approaching War Crisis I 

II 

On through the South. — Thomasville, Georgia. — Dr. 
Humphrey's Winter Home. — Southern Flowers. 
— The Old Plantation. — War Declared. — They 
Leave To-day 8 

III 

Departure from Thomasville. — Pet Superstitions. — 
Montgomery, Alabama. — The Capitol. — The Pub- 
lic Fountain. — Montgomery to New Orleans . 15 

IV 

New Orleans. — Surviving Traces of Spanish and 
French Occupation. — Jackson Square. — Cathedral 



vi CONTENTS 



of St. Louis. — The Cemeteries. — Melancholy Per- 
spectives. — Audubon Park. — Graves for Sale. — 
The French Market. — Mobile and New Orleans 
as Seen Nearly Thirty Years Ago. — St. Charles 
Hotel. — A Dinner at Dr. Mercer's ... 19 



V 

Impressions of New Orleans, — Its Harbor. — The 
Levee at Night. — Southern Texas. — Its Forests, 
Flowers, and Birds. — The Prairie Pool . . 25 



VI 

San Antonio. — Work of Jesuit Missionaries. — Street 
Ramble. — The Old Cathedral. — Evenings in our 
Car. — A Mission Car. — The Tired Clergyman 
with his Renewal of Vigor. — The Alamo. — The 
Siege Sustained by Colonel Travis and his Men. 
—The Tragedy.— Hymn of the Alamo.— The 
Western Texas Military Academy ... 30 

VII 

In Desolate Places. — Beauty Everywhere. — Railway 
Engineering. — Analogy in the Conduct of Life. — 
El Paso. — The Sand Storm. — Human Grasshop- 
pers. — The Placid Night. — Rev. Dr. Higgins. — 
Juarez. — Rev. M. Cabell Martin. — Strangeness of 
our Mexican Glimpse. — The Post-Office. — The 
Old Church.— The Padre's Perquisites.— The 
Prison. — El Paso Again.— Cavalry Going East 
for the War 47 



CONTENTS vii 

VIII 

PAGE 

Leaving El Paso. — Deming. — The Desert. — The 
Armed Guard. — The Cacti and Other Flowers. 
— The Yuma Indians. — Avoiding Kodaks. — 
Rossetti's " Sister Helen " 54 

IX 

Los Angeles. — Our Beautiful Anchorage. — First Im- 
pressions. — Sunday Morning in a Garden. — St. 
Paul's Church. — Pasadena. — The Diva's Car. — 
Journeying to San Diego. — First View of the 
Pacific 60 

X 

San Diego. — The Bathing-House. — Alarming Disap- 
pearance. — The Mystery Solved. — Carriage Drive 
to Mission Cliffs. — Coronado Beach. — The Mu- 
seum. — The Hotel. — High Fog .... 66 

XI 

San Diego to Santa Barbara. — The Old Mission. — 
The Inner Cloister. — The Afternoon Ride. — The 
Lady of the Blue Jeans. — Samarcand . . 74 

XII 

Leaving Santa Barbara. — Delay at Saugus. — View- 
ing the Wreck. — Brentwood. — The Mission Mass. 
— The Social Afternoon. — The Garden and the 
Homing Pigeons. — The Grape-Shot. — The China- 
man's Pipe 82 



viii CONTENTS 

XIII 

PAGE 

San Francisco.— Bustling Traffic— Railroad Employ- 
ees.— The Flagman.— The Palace Hotel.— The 
Seal Rocks.— Sutro Residence and Baths. — 
The Presidio. — Sentinels. — Golden Gate Park. — 
The Memorial Cross. — San Francisco and Edin- 
burgh Compared.— The Cable Cars. — Chinatown. 
— The Opium Den. — The Goldsmiths' Shops. — 
Across the Bay to Tiburon. — The Bohemian 
Club 89 



XIV 

Departure for San Jos6.— Palo Alto.— Advertiser.— 

Leland Stanford, Jr., University . . . .102 



XV 

Through Santa Clara Valley.— Arrival at San ■ Jos6. 
— Old Friends. — Semi-tropical Climate. — An Ex- 
cursion to the Stars. — The Lick Observatory. 
— Our Journey There. — Sunset on the Summit. 
—With the Great Telescope.— The Tomb of 
James Lick.— The Midnight Ride Down the 
Mountain 108 



XVI 

Sunday at San Jos^.— The Big Trees.— The Fruit 
Farm at Gilroy.— Hotel del Monte.— The Ramble 
on the Beach.— The Eighteen-Mile Drive.— 
Dolce far Niente I2i 



CONTENTS ix 

XVII 

PAGE 

Oakland Ferry-house and Pier. — The Russian 
Church. — Off Eastward. — Crossing the Moun- 
tains. — Hydraulic Mining. — Stop at Reno. — Ne- 
vada Deserts. — Ogden. — The Playing Indian . 130 

XVIII 

Salt Lake City.— The Governor of Utah.— The Zion 
Co-operative Store. — Thoughts on Mormonism. 
— The Semi-annual Conference. — The Eisteddfod. 
— The Mormon Temple. — Organ Music. — Pano- 
ramic View of Valley. — Statue of Brigham Young. 
— Excursion to Saltair. — Departure from Salt Lake 
City 137 

XIX 

Glenwood Springs. — The Pool. — The Vapor Baths. — 
Through the Canons. — Leadville. — Colorado Prod- 
ucts. — Cafions in New York .... 149 

XX 

Colorado Springs. — Ascent of Pike's Peak. — The View 
from the Summit. — The Descent. — The Springs at 
Manitou. — Treasury of Indian Myth and Legend. 
— The Collection of Minerals. — Glen Eyrie. — The 
Garden of the Gods. — Victor Hugo on Sandstone. 158 

XXI 

Denver. — The Union Station. — The Departing Trains. 
— The Beauty of Denver. — Dean Hart and the 
Cathedral. — The Funeral Service. — Seeing Den- 
ver 166 



X CONTENTS 

XXII 

PAGE 

Through Kansas.— Kansas City.— The Cattle Yards.— 
The Bluffs.— The Fight between the Merrimac 
and the Monitor 172 

XXIII 

St. Louis. — Beautiful Residences.— Forest Park. — The 
Levee. — Alton. — Old Friends. — Legend of the 
Piasa. — The Confluence of the Rivers. —The 
Union Depot. — The Car of the International Cor- 
respondence Schools. — Crossing the Bridge . 184 

XXIV 

Through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. — Columbus. — The 
Beautiful Station. — Church Service. — Nearing 
Home. — Parting Thoughts. — Our Amusements. 
—To Ethel Asleep.— A Parting Wish.— Pilgrim- 
ages of Patriotism 194 



A FLIGHT IN SPRING 



I 

The Circumstances of the Flight.— The Start.— The Car 
" Lucania."— The Kitchen.— The Cook.— The Poetic 
Dinner. — Our Accommodations. — Visitors at Newark. 
— Improvised Theatricals. — Philadelphia, Wilmington, 
Baltimore, Washington. — The Approaching War Crisis. 

It seemed like a dream to be invited to join 
a party on a private Pullman car for an extended 
tour of close on eight thousand miles, all in 
these our United States ! Yet such was the 
opportunity which was generously offered us in 
this springtime of 1898. 

It was to be "A Flight in Spring " of most in- 
tense interest. The journey was to embrace in its 
continued circuit, from New York back to New 
York, points as widely separated as New Orleans 
and San Francisco. It was to traverse many 
States and Territories, and was to be accomplished 
with every adjunct of unstinted comfort and 
refinement. 



2 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

The expected morning when we were to start 
on our journey came at last, with that subdued 
wonder in it that the dream, so unlooked for, 
was really to be a fact. Bags and satchels were 
all packed, and with that happy feeling which 
always comes to the tourist when, all ready, he 
is safely ensconced in his cab, we sped to the 
Twenty-third Street ferry for the Pennsylvania 
depot in Jersey City. 

Never did the great Hudson River look so 
beautiful or New York so magnificent in our 
eyes as on that early morning of April 13th, 
when, through and beyond it all, we could see 
in imagination the great journey before us, all 
made more radiant by a munificent hospitality 
which had made it for us a fact — ''A Flight in 
Spring" — which we had often thought of, but 
never hoped to see. 

To start off on such a journey, with a six 
weeks* vacation in view, even if undertaken all 
alone and in most prosaic economy, would be an 
event ; but when one was met by pleasant friends 
and ushered into an independent, self-contained 
flying home on wheels, it was indeed something 
ideal. 

Our car, the "Lucania, " was a happy com- 
bination of well-devised space and comfortable ar- 



THE KITCHEN 3 

rangement. Let us recount its good points. We 
may as well begin with the foundation of all well- 
regulated homes, the kitchen. What a multum 
in parvo that sacred spot was! It held quite 
a substantial cooking range; it had lockers and 
cupboards, and glistening cooking utensils of 
most approved fashion. Already our chef was 
at his work, affording, in his own person, with all 
its good-natured plumpness, a hint of the good 
things he could evolve from the interesting scene 
of his labors. He was the best possible specimen 
of a negro cook, handsome, fat, and jolly. He 
filled almost completely his little kitchen ; his 
plump and shining cheeks looking like the very 
best and most exquisitely finished Parisian 
bronze. Set off by the background of his cooking 
utensils and other objects of his serious and re- 
sponsible calling, he presented a picture worthy 
of a painter. I felt, as I looked at him, that he 
was a genius in his way. His subsequent work 
did not belie my instant instinct of his powers ; 
for, on a day long to be remembered, as we were 
speeding across one of the most arid spots of our 
journey, somewhere in Arizona, he served up a 
dinner worthy of a poet ; then I felt proud of him. 
That day the outer air was stifling. Our car was 
speeding through vast stretches of yellow, heated 



4 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

sand ; the sun poured down in full force ; every 
window was closed to keep out, as far as possible, 
the all-pervading dust. A weary gloom spread 
over the liveliest of our company, and even dinner 
was dreaded, as the time approached for that nec- 
essary function. At last the meal was announced, 
and we all reached the dining-room in a weary, 
limp condition, when a surprise awaited us. The 
artist of the galley, our negro cook, got in his 
poetic work. I felt his fine touch at once when I 
saw that there was to be no soup that day. In- 
stead, we had some delicate fish, served with most 
refreshing cucumbers on ice, the sparkle of which, 
in the dim shaded light of our room, looked like 
dewdrops. Every course thereafter had a sug- 
gestion of coolness about it, gently hinting at our 
languor and its needs, so tenderly known and in- 
telligently relieved. Slices of fresh fruit and iced 
coffee ended a repast, with the thermometer at 
well over lOO degrees, and yet every guest at ease 
and at rest. I voted from my grateful inwards 
that, if I could afford it, I would gladly give our 
good cook a bronze replica of his own bronze face, 
as a humble token of my appreciation of his 
noble art. 

Among the further perfections of our land 
yacht were separate and secluded apartments for 



VISITORS AT NEWARK 5 

our married friends and other privileged parties, 
and ample berths for less favored mortals ; there 
was also a spacious dining-room, and a generous 
lounging place at the end of the car, where after- 
dinner chats could be indulged in and mornings 
happily passed while watching the landscape as 
it seemed to fly past us and vanish in the ever- 
changing distance. But let us return to the 
events of our first day's trip. The marshes of 
the Hackensack valley were soon crossed, and 
at our first stop, at Newark, we rejoiced to find 
the Rev. Dr. Frank Landon Humphreys and 
his sweet wife, who were to make us glad with 
their company as far as Washington ; and certainly 
this was done. There were quips and jokes with- 
out number from the ever versatile Doctor; and 
roars of good-natured fun, which he provoked, 
made us oblivious of the naked landscape, as yet 
with little more than a hint here and there of the 
coming springtime. 

We had summer along with us, however, if 
good nature and pleasant chat can symbolize the 
warmth and comfort of that happy season. The 
ladies' bonnets and wraps, discovered by the Rev- 
erend Doctor in one of the staterooms, made 
impromptu material for much rapid-change 
dramatic performances, exquisitely absurd, and 



6 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

altogether entertaining. On we sped, with our 
jolly company, through New Jersey, rich and pop- 
ulous; on to Philadelphia, our great city neighbor, 
which, however, seems to most of us as far distant 
and unknown as Mars or the moon. Yet what a 
happy home place it is to those who dwell therein, 
and know the many advantages of its vast area, 
and consequent freedom from tenement drawbacks 
and other evils which we know too well. On we 
went through old Wilmington on the Delaware, 
with its red brick sidewalks and black lounging 
denizens; on through Baltimore, famous for good 
living and beautiful women ; until in the after- 
noon we reached Washington and looked with 
admiration at the stately Capitol in the distance, 
with its splendid and graceful dome, and gazed 
with a sort of awe at the far-off Washington 
monument, that huge white obelisk, so gigantic, 
so spectral, so magnificent, but which is yet so 
chimney-like in its immensity as to be almost 
forbidding, if not revolting, to the aesthetic sense. 
I presume, though, that a nearer approach to the 
vast structure would overawe us with its colossal 
appearance. I have been told that the effect of 
that unbroken shaft near by, eighty feet wide at its 
base, and mounting skyward without a break, in 
perfect plainness, for five hundred and fifty-five 



APPROACHING WAR CRISIS 7 

feet, is almost supernatural and overwhelming. 
The very sight of the Capitol could not but bring 
to our hearts the great crisis which was there im- 
pending. The huge dome seemed, as it were, to 
cover in the great brain of the nation struggling 
with the question, " Is America to engage in war ? 
Is the nation which stands most for peace and 
humanity to enter on a career of aggressive 
arms?" It seemed an added wonder to our 
" Flight in Spring " that we were entering thereon 
at such a momentous time. But life flows on in 
many currents ; and no matter what great crises 
may occur in human affairs; duties, and even 
pleasures, have each their place, and draw us after 
them in either work or play. 



II 



On through the South. — Thomasville, Georgia. — Dr. Hum- 
phrey's Winter Home. — Southern Flowers. — The Old 
Plantation. — War Declared. — They Leave To-day. 

Soon after leaving Washington the night came 
on, but ere darkness settled down upon us, we 
had already seen the fresh verdure, and the trees 
and flowers in full, radiant bloom. 

Night closed in as we whirled on through the 
Southern land. We took the Atlantic Coast line, 
passing through many historic spots, well worth 
a stay; but our destination was Thomasville, 
Georgia, where we were to join our good host. 
Dr. Humphreys and his family, and rest with 
him at his winter home for a day or so, before 
starting on our full trip from New Orleans, by the 
Sunset Route, directly west, for Los Angeles. 

Our stay in Thomasville was delightful. We 
found ourselves at home in the broad ample resi- 
dence of our good host. The house is a large, 
one-story, double structure, standing in its own 



SOUTHERN FLOWERS 9 

spacious grounds. A large hall, more than ninety 
feet long, runs through the midst of it. There 
we spent two days with our host, enjoying every 
moment of our stay. Flowers and roses were on 
every hand, and great trees with grateful shade, 
and the songs of many birds, and the pealing 
laughter of young folk, and the quiet happiness 
of those who loved to see others happy all about 
them. 

The poetry and sentiment of the time, the 
place, the occasion, seemed to me to be symbol- 
ized in a lovely bouquet of wild flowers presented 
by Thomasville friends — Colonel and Mrs. Ham- 
mond — to our dear host and hostess, as a tender 
floral bon voyage. It was truly a thing of beauty 
in its rich and unstudied simplicity, made up of a 
great spray of wild pink azalea, and another of a 
flowering ash called Old Man's Beard. The sil- 
ver threads of the latter fell over the exquisite 
color and finished form of the azalea, and all was 
overtopped by a branch of flaring crimson honey- 
suckle. It was both magnificent and dainty, all 
at once, and had the added beauty of most utter 
simplicity. It was merely a handful, plucked at 
random, from the abundant beauty of the rich 
Southern forest. I fancy, however, that an ordi- 
nary eye might have passed by the exquisite pos- 



lo A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

sibil'ity of the Southern blooms, and that the 
unerring taste and tender sentiment of the givers 
were necessary factors in procuring such a perfect 
floral offering, so appropriate and so beauti- 
ful. 

We had another great treat while at Thomas- 
ville, in a drive out to a Southern plantation of 
the old-time type. How sad and silent, though, 
it all seemed ! It was like a charmed castle, wait- 
ing for the arrival of some one whose footsteps 
should quicken all to life again. There it stood, 
all ready for an awakened hospitality, at a mo- 
ment's notice. We wandered through the great 
parlors, the spacious bedrooms, and out on the 
shaded balconies and verandas, peopling all, in 
imagination, with the home happiness for which 
it seemed so well prepared. The ample portico, 
with its great pillars; the luxuriant trees; the 
stately, silent house, and the tangle of roses and 
creeping plants made a picture long to be remem- 
bered. It did not seem quite right to romp and 
frolic in such a place, but such is the limit of our 
nature that one always loves and longs for con- 
trasts; that is the reason, doubtless, why we 
awoke the echoes with many peals of ringing 
laughter and good fun. The ever-present kodak 
had its own share in our comedy, and brought 



WAR DECLARED ii 

away a shadow of our sport in the picture of 
" Rebekah at the Well." 

The time came all too quickly for our departure 
from Thomasville. Even in our short stay we 
were charmed by the visits of many friends, among 
them some old acquaintances of other places and 
other times. We met, too, the genial editor of 
the ** Daily Times-Enterprise," and found our de- 
parture duly mentioned in the issue of Saturday 
evening, April i6, 1898. It contained also the 
stupendous announcement of the certain opening 
of the war with Spain, which appeared in these 
startling head lines: 

UNITED STATES ARMY ORDERED TO 
COAST 

Fifty Thousand Volunteers to be Ordered 

Out Next 

SENATE still IN CONTINUOUS SESSION 

But They Are Warming Up. — Money Calls Wellington a 

Liar. — The Queen Regent Contributes $200,000 to 

Equip Army and Navy. — Official Denial that 

European Powers Will Interfere. — Spain 

Says She Will Never Evacuate Cuba. — 

Uncle Sam Buying More War Ships. 

Separated from the above, with the telegraphic 
detail following, was another head line which read : 



12 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

" They Leave To-day." 

Any one would, on a hasty glance, suppose 
that these words referred to the movements of 
the United States army, but they did not ; they 
were spoken of our departure, on that afternoon, 
for New Orleans and the Pacific Coast, Here is 
what followed the startling line, and as it intro- 
duces our party in full and by name, we give it 
in extenso : 

" They Leave To-day. 

" Dr. Frederick Humphreys and his party will 
leave to-day for an extended tour on the Pacific 
Coast. 

" The following is the personnel of the party: 
Dr. and Mrs. Frederick Humphreys, the Misses 
Hayden, Mr. J. F. Hanson, Rev. Dr. D. Parker 
Morgan, of the Church of the Heavenly Rest, 
New York, and Mrs. Morgan; Canon J. Harris 
Knowles, of St. Chrysostom's, one of the Chap- 
els of Trinity Church, New York; the Misses 
Harding, of New York; Mr. Frank P. Payson 
and Miss Sanford, of Brooklyn ; and Miss Jayta 
Humphreys and Mr. Frederick Humphreys, of 
New York, the latter two being grandchildren of 
Dr. and Mrs. Humphreys. 

" All the party, except Dr. and Mrs. Hum- 
phreys, the Misses Hayden, and Mr. Hanson, 



THEY LEAVE TO-DAY 13 

arrived here on Thursday, in the private car 
* Lucania,' a palace on wheels, in which the tour 
will be made. 

" Dr. Humphreys spent yesterday in showing 
his guests some of the attractive drives and scen- 
ery in and around the town. And they could not 
have had the guidance of one more familiar with 
this charming winter resort, or one more compe- 
tent to tell of its many attractions. The good 
doctor has been a great friend of Thomasville, and 
all our people will cordially join us in the wish 
that he may spend many more happy winter 
months at his pretty home on Dawson Street. He 
has done much for the place, and it is duly appre- 
ciated by all classes of our citizens. 

" The party will leave in the * Lucania' this 
afternoon at 2.35. The itinerary will embrace 
the following principal points : New Orleans, San 
Antonio, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Diego, 
Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Monterey, San 
Jos6, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Glenwood Springs, 
Colorado Springs, Denver, Kansas City, and St. 
Louis. Stops of more or less length will be 
made at all these points. New York will be 
reached on the 25th of May. 

" It will be a most delightful, interesting, and 
instructive outing. We trust it may be made 
without a single mishap, and that the party may 
all reach their Northern homes in safety, and that 
when memory calls up its scenes and incidents. 



14 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Thomasville, clothed in its fresh garments of 
spring, with its countless flowers, its balmy air 
and blue skies, will have a place in the picture." 

We can hear the cheery voice of our editorial 
friend. Captain Triplett, in all these lines, full of 
kindness and good feeling. 



Ill 



Departure from Thomasville. — Pet Superstitions.— Mont- 
gomery, Alabama.— The Capitol.— The Public Foun- 
tain. — Montgomery to New Orleans. 

It seemed as if we were commencing our jour- 
ney in dead earnest as we were leaving Thomas- 
ville. Our party was complete, and we were all 
settled in our special places for the trip, our lug- 
gage and bags all in ship-shape order. The day, 
too, was Saturday, the i6th; hence our real be- 
ginning was not, after all, on the fatal ** 13th," 
when we left New York. Some of us had little 
pet superstitions about numbers. Sixteen, how- 
ever, seemed to satisfy all parties. It was com- 
posed of seven and nine, and had also in it two 
eights and four fours. Here was completeness 
and perfection, besides the mystery and infinity 
of the sacred seven and the thrice perfect nine. 

On our way from New York, had we not also 
a bad omen? The end extension step of our car 
got ripped off at one of the stations ; and as we 



i6 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

were also shunted about a little at Thomasville, 
just before starting, rip went the other step. 
There was suppressed gloom at these accidents ; 
but the said gloom was all dispersed when, 
some hours after, we were detained by a broken 
bridge. '* There," said one of the ladies, " that 
is the third accident since we left. We are all 
safe now." Although the third accident was to 
a bridge, and not to our car, it, however, answered 
all purposes, and set us completely at rest. 

How inevitable those little superstitions are, 
and how hard it is to despise them, or, as we 
say, rise above them ! We sometimes laugh at 
them, but we cherish them all the same, and fain 
would show our more exalted wisdom by the 
mirth they give us. Unlucky days and numbers, 
together with signs and omens, and all such, 
are open questions with me. I should be sorry 
to be incapable of a little superstition, so called, 
now and then. Indeed, I rather believe it is all a 
phantasmal flickering of the abyss of mysteries 
with which we are, at all times and in all places, 
ever enveloped. 

Off we are, then, from Thomasville, with wav- 
ing handkerchiefs and pleasant farewells from the 
dear friends we leave behind. Our journey lay 
through a rich country, the whole effect like an 



THE CAPITOL 17 

English landscape — luxuriant trees, and a verdant, 
undulating surface, glowing with flowers, and here 
and there, opulent with cultivation. We had 
hoped to have reached New Orleans in time for 
church service on Sunday morning, but the broken 
bridge prevented all that ; and when we reached 
Montgomery, Alabama, we were too late, even 
there, for attendance at morning service, and were 
inexorably scheduled to leave for New Orleans 
early in the afternoon. 

Our stay gave us an opportunity to get a 
sort of silent silhouette of the old Capitol of the 
Confederacy. A Sunday sleep was over the busi- 
ness portions of the town, broken only by the 
pathetic persistence of those who will run to the 
store, and look at the mail, or do something or 
other, from the mere fact that the average busi- 
ness man, in the average town, does not know 
what on earth to do with himself when not at 
work. He will hang around even on Sunday at 
his place of business, for it is less wearisome there 
than anywhere else. 

Some of us saw at Montgomery the spot in the 
Capitol, marked by a star in the pavement, where 
Jefferson Davis stood when sworn in as Presi- 
dent of the Confederacy; others of us in our stroll 
saw the public fountain, with its bronze tablets of: 



i8 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

" This side for colored people," " This side for 
white people," and also a tablet, of possibly uni- 
versal application to blacks and whites alike : "No 
loafing round here." We also noticed a rather 
startling announcement at the Y. M. C. A. Hall : 
" The devil will be fought in four rounds here to- 
night." 

Our afternoon and evening ride from Montgom- 
ery to New Orleans gave one the impression of 
all manner of possible wealth and progress. It 
seemed a rich, fertile country, needing but the 
influx of capital and labor to make it a paradise. 
There may be dragons lurking in swamps, or 
demons in the upper air, ready to hurl fiery darts 
at daring man in his Promethean efforts. But 
dragons can be starved by drainage, and atmos- 
pheric disturbances of storm and tornado, no 
doubt, do more good than harm in the long run. 

It was well on in the night when we got into New 
Orleans, but we enjoyed the quiet of the Sunday, 
even on our speeding train. We felt the beauty 
of the great level stretches of flat land, mingled 
constantly with the gleaming waters of lake and 
bayou and morass, all looking more and more 
mysterious as the light faded away into the night. 



IV 



New Orleans. — Surviving Traces of Spanish and French 
Occupation. — Jackson Square. — Cathedral of St, Louis. 
— The Cemeteries. — Melancholy Perspectives. — Audu- 
bon Park. — Graves for Sale. — The French Market. — 
Mobile and New Orleans as Seen Nearly Thirty Years 
Ago. — St. Charles Hotel. — A Dinner at Dr. Mercer's. 

The train moved along leisurely over bridges 
and trestle work, and through flowery forests, 
until, we scarcely knew how, we found ourselves 
at our temporary destination. 

One could see very little of New Orleans in the 
short space of our stay, but we made the most of 
it. The city itself, in its historic and social as- 
pects, is one of the most interesting in America 
and the least American. It has on it yet the 
traces of former Spanish and French ownership 
and occupation, but the equestrian statue of Old 
Hickory in Jackson Square, still known by its 
ancient name, the Place d'Armes, crowns all the 
past with the American idea. The monument 
of General Jackson is directly in front of the 



20 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Cathedral of St. Louis of France. We entered 
this edifice and noted the reredos back of the 
high altar, emblazoned with the arms of St. 
Louis and the record of his virtues. 

While we were there, a large class of boys 
were being catechized, in the French tongue; 
again and again the answers would come in loud 
monotone. We noted, also, with interest, the 
unmistakable Gallic type, in head and eyes 
and hair, of the restless young scholars upon 
the benches. 

Some of our party took carriage drives, and some 
preferred the ubiquitous street cars. In various 
ways we each sought our pleasure. We went to 
the cemeteries, with their overground, oven-like 
tombs, necessitated by the water-soaked condition 
of the soil. The French burial places had that 
sombre effect which straight lines and extended 
alleys ever produce. Why this disposition of 
line should so impress the mind is very curious, 
but I have always found it so. One feels it at 
Versailles, as well as in the most up-to-date of 
places, like Chicago. The vanishing points of 
long distances, where, as it were, one can never 
hope to reach, produce in the mind a kind of 
sorrow; while the curve, which conceals the un- 
seen, urges on to pursue and attain to that which 



THE CEMETERIES 21 

is beyond. Audubon Park, which we visited, 
and the Arboretum produce more pleasing effects 
by the winding walks and constant variety of 
beautiful trees and flowers. It is rather a doleful 
thing to make even the very best kept ceme- 
teries places for lounging pleasure. 

In the incongruity of such a situation, the fre- 
quent little green lizards flashing over the marble 
tombstones were a diversion. We caught one of 
them, and it was most curious to see it change 
color in its nervous alarm. From the most vivid 
green it became a dull blood red, and then 
brown, panting as if its heart would break; and 
not until it was well away from us did it return 
to its normal emerald tint. 

It must be confessed that the ludicrous ever 
lurks near one in such places, and often, also, that 
which is sadder than sad. For instance, in the 
midst of the silent sombreness of the French 
cemeteries it was a dreary incident in the drama 
of life to see the placards of " For sale " on monu- 
ments whose occupation was gone, for they who 
were enclosed therein were, for some cause or 
another, to be ousted from their rest. 

After we left the cemeteries some of our party 
had an al fresco lunch under some live-oak trees, 
where an honest German catered to our wants 



22 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

with the well-known products of the Fatherland. 
It was hot even there, but we wiled away an hour 
or so of rest in most satisfactory fashion. 

We did the French market early in the morn- 
ing, but possibly we were not early enough ; for 
the whole place, display, and everything there 
seemed tame and commonplace. I found, how- 
ever, pleasant study in some of the people, espe- 
cially the poor, but aristocratic looking women 
with blue jean sunbonnets on, market baskets 
on their arms, and wearing dresses of most un- 
crinoline proportions. 

We visited the new " St. Charles," where we 
all had dinner. The stay at this hotel brought 
back to mind the time, so long ago, when I 
first saw New Orleans. It was in January, 1870, 
shortly after the close of the War of the Rebel- 
lion. We were at the consecration of Bishop 
Pierce, at Mobile, Alabama, and visited New 
Orleans ere returning home. What memories 
came to me of the journey south through the his- 
toric battle-fields of the "Lost Cause"! I re- 
member the long stretch of burnt locomotives 
standing on the tracks at Mobile; of Christ 
Church, where the consecration of Dr. Pierce was 
held, with its decoration of orange branches in 
fruit and flower; of the brilliant reception held 



A DINNER AT DR. MERCER'S 23 

at the residence of our hostess, Mrs. Perry ; and 
the drawing-room, filled with flowers and elegantly 
dressed women ; while a wood fire, all aglow, gave 
us a reminder that we must make believe it was 
winter, because it was January. Then there was 
the steamboat ride from Mobile via Lake Pont- 
chartrain, and thence to New Orleans. The city 
has changed much in these years. We stayed 
then at the old St. Charles, surely an old fire 
trap, as events proved, but stately for all that. 
The culmination of each day was the hotel din- 
ner ; and a daily parade, well worth seeing, was the 
progress of the ladies across the huge rotunda, 
through the lounging crowd, to the dining-room. 
All that is now gone, and the new St. Charles 
gets along without this primitive and, I must 
say, pleasing display. 

A memory also abides with me which I surely 
may rehearse. It was a dinner given to visit- 
ing ecclesiastics and lay dignitaries at the hos- 
pitable home of Dr. Mercer in Canal Street. 
If I am right, he was a bachelor; he lived in 
great elegance in his own house. The dinner 
was thoroughly Southern, and so intended. I still 
have pleasing reminiscences of the gumbo soup; 
and a boned turkey, boiled, and stuffed with 
oysters, ought not, and can not, ever be forgot- 



24 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

ten. It was pallid, but palatable, in its moist 
modesty, and a cut right through its entire cir- 
cumference was something to be brought away 
as a grateful remembrance, safely disposed within 
the inner man, 



V 



Impressions of New Orleans. — Its Harbor. — The Levee at 
Night. — Southern Texas. — Its Forests, Flowers, and 
Birds. — The Prairie Pool. 

We left New Orleans at 8.40 P.M., on Monday, 
with visions of broad, unpaved streets embowered 
in trees ; of stately mansions in enclosed gardens ; 
of the huge levee, which, like a giant laid at 
length, pushes its shoulders against the ever- 
threatening flood of the mighty Mississippi. Our 
ladies, too, had additional memories of the shop- 
ping districts; of ill-smelling open drains which 
offended them ; of ravishing summer goods of 
cotton and silk from the looms of France ; of ex- 
quisite bijouterie tempting to one's purse; of 
great square paving blocks which seemed made to 
float; and over all the remembrance of the yellow 
flag of Spain, of the lily of France, and of the awak- 
ened bravery of the eagle of America, strangely 
rousing up to war, and we hoped to conquest. 

The great river at New Orleans is ever an 



26 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

object of interest. The huge three-sided bend 
which forms the harbor has a width varying 
from 1,500 to 3,000 feet, and a depth of from 
60 to more than 200 feet. This great body of 
water has at times a current of five miles an 
hour. It is the aggregate of a river system ex- 
tending more than 100,000 miles. You may put 
together the Amazon, the Nile, the Ganges, and 
all the river systems of the earth, and they would 
scarcely approach the magnificent showing of the 
Father of Waters and its tributaries as it flows on 
by New Orleans to the sea. 

As we looked back from our ferry-boat over the 
levee, luminous with its electric lights, at the 
huge bulk of the wonderful river over which we 
were passing, and then thought of all we had 
already seen in the few short days of our trip, and 
of all that was yet before us, we felt that rest in 
our dear *' Lucania " would be welcome, and that 
we could well afford to sleep through Louisiana 
and wake in Texas. 

When we woke up after our night's ride from 
New Orleans, we found ourselves in the southern 
part of that wondrous State, Texas. One is not 
surprised that its vast extent should have awakened 
in its first adventurous settlers the dream of an 
independent ** Lone Star Empire." How could 



SOUTHERN TEXAS 27 

it be otherwise then, before the time and space 
annihilating forces of steam and electricity had 
been discovered and applied ? Now all is differ- 
ent. The great pulses of life and trade throb all 
through the world, in a wondrous fashion, of which 
our fathers could not even dream. Everywhere 
is now a centre to touch all else with influences. 

It was lovely in the fresh morning light to look 
out over this jocund land. This is how it im- 
pressed dear Mrs. Morgan, and I transcribe di- 
rectly from her diary, kindly placed at my disposal. 

" Tuesday, April 19th. — Up early; a most ex- 
quisite morning. We pass through luxuriant 
forests of live oak, magnolia, and other trees of 
various kinds, draped in some places with south- 
ern moss, in others with beautiful creepers, among 
them the rich wistaria in full bloom. 

" A heavy storm during the night left all the 
foliage sparkling with raindrops; and the songs 
of the birds and the odors from the refreshed 
earth added to the charm. It was a day of de- 
light. Sat almost all the morning on the piazza 
in rear of the car in a state of beatitude. 

" After the forest came sugar plantations — one 
of 5,000 acres, off which the owner last year made 
a million pounds of sugar. The cane, as we saw 
it, just coming up, resembled corn in its early 



28 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

growth. We also saw immense tracts of cotton, 
and then came the prairie, a seemingly bound- 
less expanse of green, gemmed with lovely wild 
flowers. There were acres of beautiful blue lark- 
spur, crimson phlox, varieties of poppies, and 
other yellow flowers, besides many that I failed 
to recognize as we rushed along. Here, too, 
the mocking-birds perched on the wires and sang 
to us, and the poet of the party was inspired to 
write his lines on * A Prairie Pool,* one of many 
which we passed on our way." 

I here give the little poem to which Mrs. Mor- 
gan refers. The fatigues of the day before were 
yet upon me, and I ensconced myself near one of 
the windows to have a silent, quiet little spell all 
to myself. It was while thus abstracted, that 
one of the many pools, left by the recent storm, 
looked at me with its sunlit face and said as fol- 
lows: 

THE PRAIRIE POOL 

Within my heart I hold the skies, 

Whatever hue they seem to wear ; 
In tempest gloom, or sunlight clear, 

Their storm and shine alike I prize. 

I lonely am, and motionless, 

And yet, what great things come to me ! 

The planets in their mystery. 
Sun, Moon, and Stars, the great, the less. 



THE PRAIRIE POOL 29 

Deep in my heart I hold them all, 

Their quiring voices cheer my lot; 
All motionless in one lone spot. 

Yet God's full heaven in sight and all. 

And creatures great and creatures small, 

Find comfort in my fixed abode ; 

It may be man, or bird, or toad, 
I share my life with each and all. 

For all are dear to heart of God, 

And each can serve where'er he be ; 
Whether in life, full, rich, and free. 

Or bound as I, by Prairie sod. 



VI 



San Antonio. — Work of Jesuit Missionaries. — Street Ram- 
ble. — The Old Cathedral. — Evenings in our Car. — A 
Mission Car. — The Tired Clergyman with his Renewal 
of Vigor. — The Alamo. — The Siege Sustained by Colo- 
nel Travis and his Men. — The Tragedy. — Hymn of 
the Alamo. — The Western Texas Military Academy. 

After a glorious day along the southern line 
of Texas, at some points being very near the 
Mexican frontier, we reached San Antonio at tea 
time. Soon after, we were all ready, just in the 
gloaming, for a leisurely stroll through the streets 
of the beautiful and interesting town. 

San Antonio had among its Spanish founders 
some Jesuit missionaries, and these wise Fathers set 
their Indian converts at once at good works which 
took practical shape in the deep water courses 
which still line the streets at each side to this 
day, and bring to every man's door water for 
irrigation, an absolute necessity in this dry cli- 
mate. This accounts for the wealth of roses 
which embower the trees and houses. It is a 



THE OLD CATHEDRAL 31 

paradise of sweet, flowery shrubs, and the air is 
vocal with the songs of the happy birds. * ' Never, ' ' 
says Mrs. Morgan in her diary, " Never have I 
heard such a wealth of bird music as here. Here, 
too, I first saw the Mexican red bird in its wild 
condition." 

It has quite a charm to saunter round in a 
strange town, and mingle all unknown in the 
crowd. Thus we went in and out among them. 
The shops we found were attractive, especially 
those of the saddlers and harness makers, where 
the ingenious and practical shape of the goods, 
and their rich ornamentation in Mexican style, 
were quite interesting. 

Just at dusk I entered the old Cathedral, a 
relic of Spanish times. The choir had in it the 
bishop's throne, and stalls for choristers. There 
were some paintings, also, which looked as if they 
might, in a better light, be worth seeing. But 
there was one thing there that possessed more 
interest than aught else. It was a body, waiting 
for burial, covered with a pall, and placed at the 
head of the centre aisle. It was a message from 
another world, a memento mori, which could not 
be thrust aside. How solemn it looked ! and one 
thought of the long night watches, and of those 
who would remain by its side until the light of the 



32 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

next day should dawn, the Mass be said, and the 
grave receive the clay until the vivifying morning 
of the Resurrection. 

Leaving the Cathedral we again mingled in the 
crowded streets, brilliant with electric lights, 
really now to be met with everywhere. In our 
stroll we saw the outside of the Alamo, which 
has quite a history. All had to wait, however, 
until next morning. 

Here I may mention that our evenings on our 
car were always evenings at home. We had 
many a pleasant hour together in fun and frolic, 
in story-telling, in playing games, such as conse- 
quences and nonsense verses ; in occasional sing- 
ing, and music on the reed organ, part of our car 
belongings; but whatever we engaged in, we 
always brought our day to a close with family 
prayers and the singing of one or two hymns, as 
an act of devotion. When our closing hymn rang 
out from our car that night, at the depot grounds 
in San Antonio, doubtless many were curious to 
know just what we were. Since my return from 
our " Flight in Spring," it has occurred to me 
that much real pleasure and spiritual profit could 
be had by a mission band of clergymen making 
just such a tour as we made, but with the spe- 
cial end in view to hold services for one or more 



THE TIRED CLERGYMAN 33 

days at the points visited. I think the clergy 
would hail such a mission with gladness, judging 
from the hungry way in which Dr. Morgan and 
myself were constantly importuned to " stay 
over and preach." 

One dear old brother made such a pitiful 
appeal, and seemed so feeble, that Dr. Morgan 
defied the injunction of his Vestry not to use his 
throat while away, and disregarded even the 
appealing advice of his dear wife, and did actually 
preach. The Doctor said that, of course, I would 
do the same at night. Of course, I had to con- 
sent. Then a miracle took place : our dear old 
brother seemed to have a new lease of life the 
moment his two Sunday sermons were off his con- 
science. He was so spry that on Sunday after- 
noon he suggested a Sabbath day's drive among 
some orange groves, which we took behind two 
spanking bays, the ribbons being held by our ere- 
while feeble brother, now in all the vigor of 
hearty old age, warming up to the exciting drive. 
On and on we went until I suggested that it 
would be well to turn back, as I wanted a little 
quiet time before church to gather my thoughts 
together before preaching. In the blandest way 
the old gentleman told us he had lost his way, 
and was looking for a place to turn back. I 

3 



34 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

thought we never should get home ; but I made 
the best of it, and brooded all the return way on 
recent events at the Philippines, of Dewey and his 
watchword : " Keep cool and obey orders," and at 
night I gave a patriotic sermon on the text : " But 
thanks be to God which giveth us the victory." 

I felt sure that if we remained over until next 
Sunday, our dear brother would be again as fee- 
ble as ever, and that in our charity we could not 
but preach, even though we might suspect. We 
did not leave San Antonio until after five o'clock 
the next day, and that gave us a little more pleas- 
urable time there. It is such a flowery, bright, 
and cheerful place, that it quite attracted us. 

In the morning I went to the Alamo and gave 
that thrilling place an hour or so, and it is well 
worth it. It has been the scene of a determined 
bravery of which any country might be proud, and 
there, also, a deep tragedy took place which has 
in it the true spirit of the daring and the heroic. 

On the exterior the Alamo has quite an ancient 
appearance. The front, with its characteristic 
Spanish look and round-topped gable, is plain and 
massive, with quite a handsome entablature over 
the arched entrance, consisting of four fluted 
columns, on good bases, all supporting a hori- 
zontal cornice which extends over the main door, 



THE ALAMO 35 

and over a recessed niche at each side for statues. 
It has all, a grandiose effect, quite interesting. 

Passing in through the door, you find yourself 
in a well-proportioned church, long since disused 
as such, and now owned by the State and occu- 
pied as a museum, filled with relics of the fearful 
scenes which took place within the sacred place. 
Here, in the year 1836, a band of Texans fortified 
themselves against the attack of General Santa 
Anna and some four or five thousand Mexican 
soldiers bent on their destruction. 

The siege was laid, and the commanding officer 
in the Alamo, Colonel Travis, determined to with- 
stand it to the end. The same spirit filled the 
hearts of his brave men. He endeavored to 
arouse the energies of the Texans without to 
come to his relief, but for some reason they did 
not. Jealousies and bickerings among other lead- 
ers is hinted at as the cause. The letter which 
the brave colonel sent tells his story in his own 
words. Here it is : 

" COMMANDCY OF THE Alamo, Bexar, 

February 24, 1836. 
" Fellow-Citizens and Compatriots : I am be- 
sieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans 
under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continued 
bombardment for twenty-four hours, and have 



36 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

not lost a man. The enemy have demanded a 
surrender at discretion ; otherwise the garrison is 
to be put to the sword if the place is taken. I 
have answered the summons with a cannon shot, 
and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. 
/ shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on 
you in the name of liberty, of patriotism, and of 
everything dear to the American character, to 
come to our aid with all despatch. The enemy 
are receiving reinforcements daily, and will no 
doubt increase to three or four thousand in four 
or five days. Though this call may be neglected, 
I am determined to sustain myself as long as pos- 
sible, and die like a soldier who forgets not what 
is due to his own honor and that of his country. 
Victory or death ! 

" W. Barret Travis, 
" Lieutenant-Colonel ComTnanding. 

" P. S. — The Lord is on our side. When the 
enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels 
of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 
eighty or ninety bushels, and got into the walls 
twenty or thirty head of beeves. T. " 

When the commandant issued this letter he had 
not accurate information of the exact strength of 
the besieging force, but it would have made no 
difference with such a man. 

When the full power of the besiegers was known. 



THE SIEGE 37 

and the lines of attack became closer and closer, 
Colonel Travis assembled his men in the Alamo. 
Relief was not in sight, but the generous nature 
of Travis would not permit him to assign any 
other reason for this but the probability that his 
friends had been already cut off by the enemy. 

After an impassioned speech to his men, refer- 
ring to the failure to get relief, he thus concludes : 

** Then we must die. Our business is not to 
make a fruitless effort to save our lives, but to 
choose the manner of our death. But three 
modes are presented to us. Let us choose that 
by which we may best serve our country. Shall 
we surrender, and be deliberately shot without 
taking the life of a single enemy ? Shall we try 
to cut our way out through the Mexican ranks, 
and be butchered before we can kill twenty of 
our adversaries ? I am opposed to either meth- 
od. . . . Let us resolve to withstand our 
enemies to the last, and at each advance to kill 
as many of them as possible. And when at last 
they shall storm our fortress, let us kill them as 
they come! Kill them as they scale our walls! 
Kill them as they leap within ! Kill them as they 
raise their weapons, and as they use them ! Kill 
them as they kill our companions! and continue 
to kill them as long as one of us shall remain 
alive ! . . . But leave every man to his own 



38 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

choice. Should any man prefer to surrender 
. . . or attempt to escape . . . he is at 
liberty to do so. My own choice is to stay in 
the fort and die for my country, fighting as long 
as breath shall remain in my body. This will I 
do even if you leave me alone. Do as you think 
best; but no man can die with me without afford- 
ing me comfort in the hour of death." 

The little pamphlet called " The Origin and 
Fall of the Alamo," which I bought within the 
walls, is my authority for what has preceded. I 
quote from it also the following simple, but tell- 
ing story of what followed the speech of Colonel 
Travis : 

*' Col. Travis then drew his sword, and with 
the point traced a line upon the ground extend- 
ing from the right to the left of the file. Then 
resuming his position in front of the centre, he 
said : ' I now want every man who is determined 
to stay here and die with me to come across that 
line. Who will be the first ? March ! ' The first 
respondent was Tapley Holland, who leaped the 
line at a bound, exclaiming, * I am ready to die 
for my country ! ' His example was instantly fol- 
lowed by every man in the file, with exception of 

Rose . Every sick man that could walk arose 

from his bunk, and tottered across the line. Col. 
Bowie, who could not leave his bed, said : * Boys, 



THE SIEGE 39 

I am not able to come to you, but I wish some 
of you would be so kind as to move my cot over 
there.' Four men instantly ran to the cot, and 
each lifting a corner carried it over. Then every 
sick man that could not walk made the same re- 
quest, and had his bunk moved in the same way. 
" Rose was deeply affected, but differently from 
his companions. He stood till every man but 
himself had crossed the line. He sank upon the 
ground, covered his face, and yielded to his own 
reflections. A bright idea came to his relief; 
he spoke the Mexican dialect very fluently, and 
could he once get out of the fort, he might easily 
pass for a Mexican and effect his escape. He 
directed a searching glance at the cot of Col. 
Bowie. Col. David Crockett v/as leaning over 
the cot, conversing with its occupant in an under- 
tone. After a few seconds Bowie looked at Rose 
and said : * You seem not to be willing to die with 
us. Rose.' * No,' said Rose, * I am not prepared 
to die, and shall not do so if I can avoid it.' 
Then Crockett also looked at him, and said: 
* You may as well conclude to die with us, old 
man, for escape is impossible.' Rose made no 
reply, but looked at the top of the wall. * I have 
often done worse than climb that wall,' thought 
he. Suiting the action to the thought, he sprang 
up, seized his wallet of unwashed clothes, and 
ascended the wall. Standing on its top, he looked 
down within to take a last view of his dying 



40 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

friends. They were all now in motion, but what 
they were doing he heeded not ; overpowered by 
his feelings, he looked away, and saw them no 
more. . . . He threw down his wallet, and 
leaped after it." 

I will now let the Mexicans tell how they made 
the attack and also the result to them, giving ex- 
tracts from official documents and from the recital 
of Sergeant Becerra, a Mexican: 

" A terrible fire belched from the interior. Men 
fell from the scaling ladders by the score, many 
pierced through the head by balls, others felled 
by clubbed guns. The dead and wounded cov- 
ered the ground. After half an hour of fierce 
conflict, after the sacrifice of many lives, the col- 
umn of Gen. Castrillon succeeded in making a 
lodgment in the upper part of the Alamo to the 
northeast. It was a sort of outwork. This seem- 
ing advantage was a mere prelude to the desper- 
ate struggle which ensued. The doors of the 
Alamo building were barricaded by bags of sand 
as high as the neck of a man ; the windows also. 
On top of the roofs of the different apartments 
were rows of sand bags to cover the besieged. 

" Our troops [the Mexicans], inspired by suc- 
cess, continued the attack with energy and bold- 
ness. The Texians fought like devils. It was at 
short range — muzzle to muzzle, hand to hand, 



THE SIEGE 41 

musket and rifle, bayonet and bowie-knife — all 
were mingled in confusion. Here a squad of 
Mexicans, here a Texian or two. The crash of 
firearms, the shouts of defiance, the cries of the 
dying and wounded made a din almost infernal. 
The Texians defended desperately every inch of 
the fort; overpowered by numbers they would 
be forced to abandon a room. They would rally 
in the next, and defend it until further resistance 
became impossible. 

" Gen. Tolza's command forced an entrance at 
the door of the church building. He met the 
same determined resistance without and within. 
He won by force of numbers and great sacrifice 
of life. 

" There was a long room on the ground floor. 
It was darkened. Here the fight was bloody. It 
proved to be the hospital. A detachment of 
which I had command had captured a piece of 
artillery. It was placed near the door of the hos- 
pital, doubly charged with grape and canister, and 
fired twice. We entered and found the corpses 
of fifteen Texians. On the outside we afterwards 
found forty-two dead Mexicans. 

" On the top of the church building I saw eleven 
Texians. They had some small pieces of artillery 
and were firing on the cavalry and on those en- 
gaged in making the escalade. Their ammunition 
was exhausted, and they were loading with pieces 
of iron and nails. 



42 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

" The Alamo was entered at daylight ; the fight 
did not cease till nine o'clock. . . . 

** Gen. Santa Anna directed Col. Mora to send 
out his cavalry to bring in wood. This was done. 
The bodies of the heroic Texians were burned. 
Their remains became offensive. They were 
afterward collected and buried by Col. Juan N, 
Seguin." 

Sergeant Becerra said : 

** There was an order to gather our own dead 
and wounded. It was a fearful sight. Our life- 
less soldiers covered the ground surrounding the 
Alamo. They were heaped inside the fortress. 
Blood and brains covered the earth and the floors, 
and had spattered the walls. The ghastly faces 
of our comrades met our gaze, and we removed 
them with despondent hearts. Our loss in front 
of the Alamo was represented at two thousand 
killed, and more than three hundred wounded. 
The killed were generally struck on the head. 
The wounds were in the neck or shoulder, seldom 
below that. The firing of the besieged was fear- 
fully precise. When a Texas rifle was levelled on 
a Mexican, he was considered as good as dead. 
All this indicated the dauntless bravery and the 
cool self-possession of the men who were engaged 
in a hopeless conflict with an enemy numbering 
more than twenty to one. They inflicted on us a 
loss ten times greater than they sustained. The 



THE TRAGEDY 43 

victory of the Alamo was dearly bought. In- 
deed, the price in the end was well-nigh the ruin 
of Mexico." 

The tragic heroism displayed in the Alamo 
caused intense excitement in the United States, 
and, indeed, throughout the civilized world. 
Lovers of liberty knew that the men were inspired 
both by their love of freedom and the conscious- 
ness of the horrible fate which would await them 
if they fell alive into the hands of Santa Anna and 
his men. The pamphlet tells us that : 

** An Englishman named Nagle had the honor 
of originating the ' Monument Erected to the 
Heroes of the Alamo. ' It stood at the entrance 
of the Capitol at Austin. This building was 
burned in 1880, and the monument suffered in- 
jury. On the top of each front were the names 
of Travis, Bowie, Crockett, and Bonham. The 
inscription on the north front was: * To The God 
Of The Fearless And The Free Is Dedicated This 
Altar Of The ALAMO.' On the west front: 
* Blood of Heroes Hath Stained Me. Let The 
Stones Of The Alamo Speak, That Their IMMO- 
LATION Be Not FORGOTTEN.' On the 
south front: ' Be They Enrolled With LEONI- 
DAS In The Host Of The Mighty Dead.' On 
the east front: * Thermopylae Had Her Messenger 
Of DEFEAT, But The ALAMO Had None.' " 



44 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

After seeing the Alamo and penetrating its his- 
toric recesses, I was in no mood for much further 
sightseeing. Some of our party drove to a most 
interesting Mission on the outskirts of the town, 
others contented themselves with a distant view of 
it from the street cars. The weather was too hot 
for much further exertion, and it was with a sense 
of restful enjoyment that we reclined in our car 
" Lucania " as we speeded westward in the even- 
ing hour. We got a charming view of San Antonio, 
a mile or so out from the town, glowing in the 
radiance of the setting sun, and looking as neat, 
thriving, and attractive as we found it in our ex- 
perience. It seemed to deserve the added splen- 
dor of the sunset glow ; and as a light of historic 
glory, and of a fame which can never set, we here 
insert a few striking lines called the " Hymn of 
the Alamo." 

HYMN OF THE ALAMO 
By Captain Reuben M. Potter, U.S.A. 

Rise ! man the wall — our clarion's blast 

Now sounds the final reveille ; 
This dawning morn must be the last 

Our fated band shall ever see. 
To life, but not to hope, farewell ; 

Your trumpet's clang, and cannon's peal, 
And storming shout, and clash of steel 

Is ours, but not our country's knell. 



HYMN OF THE ALAMO 45 

Welcome the Spartan's death— 

'Tis no despairing strife — 
We fall — we die — but our expiring breath 

Is Freedom's breath of life. 

" Here on this new Thermopylae 

Our monument shall tower on high, 
And ' Alamo ' hereafter be 

On bloodier fields the battle cry." 
Thus Travis from the rampart cried. 

And when his warriors saw the foe 
Like whelming billows move below, 

At once each dauntless heart replied : 
" Welcome the Spartan's death — 

'Tis no despairing strife — 
We fall — we die — but our expiring breath 

Is Freedom's breath of life ! " 

They come — like autumn leaves they fall, 

Yet hordes on hordes they onward rush ; 
With gory tramp they mount the wall, 

Till numbers the defenders crush. 
The last was felled — the fight to gain — 

Well may the ruffians quake to tell 
How Travis and his hundred fell 

Amid a thousand foemen slain. 
They died the Spartan's death, 

But not in hopeless strife ; 
Like brothers died — and their expiring breath 

Was freedom's breath of life. 

Among the many pleasant incidents of our stay 
in San Antonio was the meeting with some of the 
students of the West Texas Military Academy, 



46 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

of which my young friend the Rev, A. L. Burle- 
son is the rector. They were splendid young fel- 
lows. It was a regret that I could not visit the 
school and pay my respects to one who bears the 
honored name of Burleson. 

To look at those young students was a delight ; 
and to know that the seed sown at Racine, under 
De Koven, where the Rev. Mr. Burleson gradu- 
ated, was here, in this great Southwest, bearing 
such good fruitage, was a delightful memory to 
bring away from San Antonio. 



VII 



In Desolate Places. — Beauty Everywhere. — Railway Engi- 
neering. — Analogy in the Conduct of Life. — El Paso. — 
The Sand Storm. — Human Grasshoppers. — The Placid 
Night. — Rev. Dr. Higgins. — Juarez. — Rev. M. Cabell 
Martin. — Strangeness of our Mexican Glimpse. — The 
Post-Office.— The Old Church.— The Padre's Perqui- 
sites. — The Prison. — El Paso Again.— Cavalry Going 
East for the War. 

After leaving San Antonio, the night soon shut 
out the landscape from our view, and the next 
morning revealed to us a rather forlorn region. 
This is how it impressed Mrs. Morgan. I quote 
from her diary: ** We awoke to find ourselves in 
a desolate portion of country, bare prairie, stretch- 
ing away towards craggy hills whose irregular out- 
line is very picturesque, and the soft blue and 
purple shadowing on them is beautiful. Droves 
of cattle wandered about, feeding on the sparse 
dried grass, which is the only forage the poor 
beasts seem to have." 

Even the most unpromising places have some 



48 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

compensation in them, for the beauty of the dis- 
tant mountains was worth seeing, and the natural 
cured grass of the prairies has wonderful sustain- 
ing power. In fact, it is a hay crop wisely scat- 
tered everywhere, needing neither storehouse nor 
barn, always on hand — or at mouth, one might 
say — for the strolling droves. We passed during 
our morning's run some splendid pieces of railroad 
engineering. We were constantly rising above 
the sea level, every mile bringing us up to the 
mountain heights. This rapid ascent was man- 
aged by a most circuitous route among the foot- 
hills, winding in and out, and doubling again and 
again upon our track. A railway map gives one 
an idea of almost straight lines from place to 
place. How different is the reality! It seemed 
to me a symbol of theory and practice in real life. 
A proposition in business or in morals seems as 
simple and inevitable as that two and two make 
four; but many are the twists and turns that must 
be taken in all departments of life before the end 
in view can be attained. 

By these necessary zigzags and retracing curves 
we made our advance, higher and higher. The 
sparse vegetation revealed our increasing altitude, 
the trees became few and stunted, and the wild 
plants more limited in variety. We descend again 



THE SAND STORM 49 

as we pass on, until toward evening we reached 
El Paso. Here we landed in the midst of a fear- 
ful sand storm. We were met by a dear old 
friend of former days, the Rev. Dr. Higgins, 
whose first impulse was to tell us that it was not 
always thus in El Paso. We should hope not; 
for it was fearful. The wind blew at a dreadful 
rate, sweeping along with it dense clouds of sharp 
sand which gave one a sense of being lashed with 
whipcords. In the midst of this blinding dust 
and sand, obscuring the light, people moved 
about like huge grasshoppers. A contrivance of 
transparent celluloid, fitted like glasses to the 
eyes, extending from above the eyebrows, down 
well on the cheeks, gave people this absurd insect- 
like appearance. It was gruesome and comical at 
once. Several of our party invested immediately 
in these most necessary appliances, in order to 
get round a little in what looked like a forlorn 
town ; but ere an hour or so had passed we found 
the storm gone, and all in placid peace, while the 
stars shone down through the clear night with 
true southern brilliancy. 

The next morning Dr. Higgins was once more 

with us, and was delighted to act as guide to our 

younger contingent, who did El Paso thoroughly, 

and went also across the river, the Rio Grande del 

4 



50 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Norte, into the Mexican town of Juarez. Some 
of the party met with a sad experience on their 
return, when they had to pay so much a pound 
tax, and ad valorem besides, on a Mexican blanket 
whose gay stripes had taken their fancy in a shop 
at Juarez. 

My cicerone was the Rev. M. Cabell Martin, 
Rector of St. Clement's, El Paso, who drove me 
in his buggy over the frontier to Juarez and 
showed me all that was to be seen. It is aston- 
ishing what a change one sees in little more than 
a few yards of distance. Once across the bridge 
from El Paso, and you are in a new atmosphere. 
El Paso is like a New England town, after all; a 
little rough here and there, a little strange it may 
be, like the strangeness of the city pets, the alli- 
gators, who sleep in luxurious laziness in the pub- 
lic square ; but yet it all was in our ways, and we 
were at home. But in Juarez all is different. As 
we drive along, two men by the roadside making 
adobe looked as if they might have been with the 
Israelites in Egypt at the same business. With 
their naked legs they were kneading up the black 
muck, which, when of the proper consistency, 
they deftly moulded into form for the great mas- 
ter workman, the sun, to dry at his leisure and 
pleasure. The streets of the town seemed bare. 



JUAREZ 51 

The shops were in most cases without windows or 
exterior openings, save the entrance door. The 
booths and stalls in the streets for cheap eatables, 
vegetables, pottery, and odds and ends had a 
wild, gypsy grace about them, all water-colors, 
ready to be painted, just as they were. 

We saw the post-office where Juarez kept up 
the government and existence of the Republic of 
Mexico during the whole of the Maximilian inva- 
sion. It was a close point to the United States for 
escape and liberty if he was molested. When 
Maximilian received his death-shot, Juarez went 
on with his presidency, taking no notice whatever 
of the usurpation as if it never had place. This 
man, of pure Indian blood, was certainly of heroic 
mould, and a stanch lover of light and liberty. 

We looked into the church, a most interesting 
old adobe building, with walls of immense thick- 
ness. The interior was a well-proportioned paral- 
lelogram of good height, with a grand wooden 
roof of carved beams of a dark hue, possibly black 
with age. We were told that the work had been 
all done by native workmen in ages past. Part 
of the doors in the same style, like Aztec work, 
had been ripped away and thrown outside to 
make way for a jimcrack gallery for singers. We 
longed to bring those old doorposts with us, and 



52 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

looked up with gratification at the roof as yet safe 
in its distance and old magnificence. The church 
walls had been all done up in whitewash, and the 
altar was adorned with saints and a Madonna 
decked out in real laces, satins, velvets, and jew- 
elry, possibly real also. The effect of it all was 
bizarre and a trifle depressing. 

We saw the arena for the Sunday and fite-ddiy 
bull fights, and also the square behind the church 
where the Mexican padre indulges in his form of 
church sociables and grab-bag business. He does 
it by letting out the spaces of the square to all 
sorts of three-card-monte men, and other catch- 
pennies of that ilk, from December 8th, through 
the Christmas Holidays, until the ioWowmg fete of 
the Epiphany. It is said that the padre gets his 
percentage on the profits also. Poor man, he 
must have some compensation, for his lot is such 
that, under the laws of Mexico, he, or any other 
padre, cannot walk the streets in clerical garb, but 
must disguise their calling in the ordinary dress 
of a civilian. The padre in question, I was told, 
usually appeared in the dress of an ordinary peon. 

We took a peep into the prison, and were in- 
stantly assailed by the prisoners behind the bars 
and in the open court within the gates, offering us 
for sale trinkets they had made. The Mexican 



THE PRISON 53 

prison rules do not oblige the jailers to provide 
food for their prisoners, so they must in some 
way hustle for themselves, buy from their jailers, 
or depend upon the charity of others. An officer 
in full uniform lounged on a chair near by the 
outer door, and soldiers in canvas uniforms were 
on guard with military rigidity, with arms in their 
hands. It was like a bit out of the Middle Ages, 
or a scene from the opera, where brigands and 
regulars have varying fortunes of conquering and 
being conquered. 

It was nice to drive back over the Rio Grande 
del Norte again into the home land ; to have a 
chat with the United States Custom House officer; 
to show him our purchases worth about fifty cents 
American money, for which we had got eight or 
ten pieces of pottery from a street vender, and 
then after our chat to be told '' it was all right." 

When we got into El Paso we saw the first 
touch of real war in the shape of a regiment of 
cavalry bound for New Orleans and Cuba. There 
were shouts and hurrahs as they moved off in 
their train, but not the noisy enthusiasm which 
one might expect. Our American people are not 
shouters, they are too serious. There is a silence 
about their most excited conditions which a 
stranger can hardly understand. 



VIII 

Leaving El Paso. — Deming. — The Desert. — The Armed 
Guard. — The Cacti and Other Flowers. — The Yuma 
Indians. — Avoiding Kodaks. — Rossetti's " Sister 
Helen." 

We left El Paso with pleasant recollections of 
all the kindness we received there, and once again 
we travelled into the night. Ere that, however, 
we had ample time to note the rapidly increasing 
desert character of our surroundings. The whole 
thing was like a Salvator Rosa setting for wild 
adventure and daring lawlessness. I am confident 
that any one owning a horse there, and not over- 
burdened with moral sense, would almost un- 
consciously become a desperado. May we not 
imagine that man is apt to develop within himself 
the characteristics of those animals who find a 
subsistence in such places ? There the sly coyote, 
the panther, and wildcat inhabit ; there, too, the 
rattlesnake and other venomous things have their 
life ; and may not the environment which produces 



THE ARMED GUARD 55 

such creatures have like effect upon men who 
grow up or dwell there ? Such were my reflec- 
tions when at Deming, where we made a wait of 
twenty minutes, I saw an armed guard mount our 
train to be all ready for possible train robbers. 
One of the guards was a sweet-looking, mild-man- 
nered man, quite young; but the conductor told 
me that that sweet fellow was the one who did 
the business, by a sure shot, in the last recent 
train-robbing escapade. It seemed all a matter 
of course, to fit in nicely with the landscape, and 
did not trouble us in the least nor disturb our 
tranquil rest. The morning found us all safe and 
unmolested, which was rather a disappointment 
to some of our ladies who wished especially to 
encounter a train robbery or hold-up. The ideal 
highwayman is ever held to be gallant to the 
ladies, even when depriving them in good old- 
fashioned way of their jewels. 

The desert of Arizona, through which we were 
speeding, had the same pale and tawny look 
of dry, rocky, and alkaline soil; but nature is 
never idle anywhere. Here we were entertained 
with whirling processions of immense cacti, some 
thirty feet high, which seemed to dance past us 
in grim, grotesque fashion as we rode along. 
Some species were gorgeous in blood-red bios- 



56 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

soms, an admirable contrast to the pale, bell- 
shaped flowers of the yucca plant. 

At Yuma we had a vivid evidence of what care 
and irrigation can do even in this arid waste. 
The station enclosure was a mass of brilliant 
beauty. There were red, pink, and white olean- 
ders. There were pomegranates in full bloom, 
with their rich yellow blossoms. 

An enthusiastic German whom I met was quite 
enraptured with the sight of palms and flowers, 
and declared that the railroad company ought to 
establish oases such as this, but larger, at fre- 
quent intervals, well furnished with casinoes, 
music, hotels, and all the appliances of Monte 
Carlo. One can imagine that in this perfect air, 
and with such luxurious surroundings, a lotos 
sort of life might be enjoyed for a resting spell 
now and then. 

The platform of the station was lined up with 
Indians having various trinkets for sale, more or 
less authentic. The rich tint of the Indian com- 
plexion, especially among the younger women 
and children, exactly harmonized with the bright 
light and vivid surroundings of the desert beyond 
and the flowers near by. 

There was a graceful Indian Madonna there, 
with her chubby baby boy, that any artist might 



AVOIDING KODAKS 57 

covet to paint. Our kodaks were unable to snap 
them off, for the moment the drop of the camera 
was on them the Indian mothers gathered their 
brood under their shawls and wraps, just as a hen 
would gather her chickens under her wings from a 
hawk. There is a widespread superstition among 
primitive people that some evil may be wrought 
to a person by working enchantment upon his or 
her likeness or image. This is fearfully brought 
out in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem, '* Sister 
Helen." The poet discovers to us, in some an- 
cient castle. Sister Helen and her little brother. 
The child speaks and the sister replies in this 
fashion : 

"Why do you melt your waxen man, 
Sister Helen ? 
To-day is the third since you began." 
"The time was long, yet the time ran, 
Little brother." 
{O Mother, Mary Mother, 
Three days to-day, between Hell and Heaveji !) 

" But if you have done your work aright, 
Sister Helen, 
You'll let me play, for you said I might." 
"Be very still in your play to-night, 
Little brother." 
{O Mother, Mary Mother, 
Third night, to-night, between Hell and Heaven !) 



58 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

" You said it must melt ere vesper bell, 
Sister Helen ; 
If now it be molten, all is well." 
" Even so, — nay, peace ! you cannot tell, 
Little brother." 
(O Mother, Mary Mother, 
O what is this, between Hell and Heaven !) 

In this weird fashion the poem moves along. 
The whole story of the wronged Sister Helen and 
her false lover, upon whose waxen image she 
works her spell, is told us, until at last, the waxen 
image consumed, the child with his pure, innocent 
eyes sees the wraith of the dead man cross the 
threshold of the apartment where they are. The 
child exclaims : 

" See, see, the wax has dropped from its place, 
Sister Helen, 
And the flames are running up apace." 
" Yet here they burn but for a space, 
Little brother ! " 
{O Mother, Mary Mother, 
Here for a space, between Hell and Heaven !) 

" Ah ! what white thing at the door has cross'd, 
Sister Helen ? 
Ah ! what is this that sighs in the frost .'' " 
"A soul that's lost as mine is lost, 
Little brother ! " 
( O Mother, Mary Mother, 
Lost, lost, all lost, between Hell and Heaven ! ) 



AVOIDING KODAKS 59 

As we looked at the Indian women cuddling up 
their babes from the shot of the camera, we saw 
an evidence of those deep and widespread super- 
stitions which make the whole world kin. 

After leaving Yuma we soon cross the Colorado 
River, and ere darkness set in upon us we could 
see the ordered lines of vines and olives, of apri- 
cots and oranges, in rich and cultivated California, 
whose many wonders both of nature and of man 
were soon to open more fully before us. 



IX 



Los Angeles. — Our Beautiful Anchorage. — First Impres- 
sions, — Sunday Morning in a Garden. — St. Paul's 
Church. — Pasadena. — The Diva's Car. — Journeying to 
San Diego. — First View of the Pacific. 

We reached Los Angeles at nightfall, and it 
was a fitting entrance to that enchanted spot. 
Through the shadows, as we approached, we 
caught glimpses of the beauties that awaited us 
when Hght should dawn. 

The station was bright and cheerful, and the 
anchorage for our car was in a delightsome spot, 
withdrawn in a garden from the noise and confu- 
sion so inevitable in the regions of the iron horse. 
Night as it was, we made a little tour of inspec- 
tion ere turning in for sleep. Emerging from 
the depot, the first thing that confronted us was 
a giant palm, towering up in the darkness of the 
night, yet glowing with electric light, which 
brought out its tropical foliage splendidly. Its 
graceful and splendid form made a beautiful initial 



ST. PAUL'S CHURCH 6i 

letter to the bewitching chapter which Los An- 
geles presented for our future inspection. 

Sunday morning came to us in our smiling gar- 
den like a benediction. The place was small in 
itself, but so well laid out that it had the full 
effect of spaciousness. It was glowing with roses, 
pansies, stocks, and any number of other flowers. 
A gorgeous bordering of a species of ice plant 
with splendid magenta blooms was especially 
effective. All this profusion was accented by 
beautiful trees — the pepper-tree, the red gum, and 
several species of palm. There was also near by 
a collection of Arizona plants in all their grotesque 
shapes, and a most interesting group of hiero- 
glyphic rocks brought from some mountain place, 
having on them prehistoric inscriptions of lines 
and rude figures, suggesting the Ogham records 
found in Ireland and other parts of Europe, 
usually attributed to most primitive times. 

It was my privilege to assist at the service at 
St. Paul's Church, where the Bishop of Los An- 
geles preached. The unwinterish conditions of 
this climate were well suggested by the out-of- 
door passage of choir and clergy from the choir- 
room to the church. The service was well ren- 
dered by a choir of men and boys. In the evening 
it was my lot to preach. It was delightful to join 



62 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

in the worship of the Church, and to be as much 
at home among brethren on the shores of the 
Pacific as if we were thousands of miles away, on 
the other side of the continent, near another sea. 
We spent our next day at Los Angeles and neigh- 
borhood in democratic fashion, going by street 
and electric cars in various directions. We went 
out to Pasadena, where a Chicago friend gave us 
a pressing invitation to stay over and visit his 
villa built on the old Spanish model. His kind 
hospitality, so hearty and unexpected, we could 
not accept. We had, like most tourists, to press 
on. Now California, of all places, is a region to 
tarry in. It is too huge, too complicated, too 
strange to be done in a flying visit, although a 
flying visit is well worth having. The clear atmos- 
phere makes you imagine you could take an easy 
stroll over to the mountains, but a day would not 
suffice to reach them. You think you have ex- 
hausted some place or other, but you find that 
you have only skimmed over the surface. 

We left Los Angeles with regret in the after- 
noon of our third day there. We were sorry to 
leave our pretty garden anchorage, where we had 
for a near neighbor the distinguished Madam 
Melba, travelling on a concert tour in her private 
car. The diva had quite a suite in attendance. 



THE DIVA'S CAR 63 

The only music that we heard from its sacred in- 
terior was from her colored chef, who, while his 
mistress was on the concert stage, made the gar- 
den, where we were wandering about in the moon- 
light, vocal with her piano and his by no means 
unmelodious voice. There was a touch of the 
comic in this sentimental proceeding quite irre- 
sistible. 

Our memory of Los Angeles and the whole 
entourage of that garden spot will always be a 
vision of palms and flowers, of beautiful homes 
embowered in roses, of orange-trees in fruit and 
flower, and of a far-extended city whose future 
must be as magnificent as its present is beautiful. 

We spent a delightful afternoon on our journey 
southward from Los Angeles to San Diego and 
Coronado Beach. We passed through the distinc- 
tive orange belt of Southern California, and the 
golden fruit was in evidence on every hand. 
Oranges lay on the ground. The groves were 
like gardens of the Hesperides with glittering 
yellow fruit for all mankind. They were ready 
in trains side-tracked for transhipment across the 
continent ; they were in warehouses, where we 
could see through the great open doors the busy 
packers at their work ; they were everywhere, un- 
til the eye almost tired of them, and the formal 



64 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

rows of the orange groves, and the bare earth un- 
derneath always kept ploughed up for advantage 
to the coveted crop. In other places we passed 
enormous herds of cattle, fat and well liking, giv- 
ing one an idea of the huge proportions of ranch 
life on this great Pacific Coast. 

Our route brought us for the first time really 
close to the great ocean which we had never seen. 
When one comes on the first view of any great 
object there is always a thrill of expectancy. We 
had left the great Atlantic behind us, and we 
were speeding on rapidly to the shores of the 
Pacific. We knew that in a few moments it 
would burst upon our sight, but just then a dense, 
soft, and chilling fog surrounded us. It seemed 
a great disappointment to have such a hindrance 
to our sight just at that time; but, it was all for 
the best, as we soon discovered ; for when we did 
see the mighty deep, nothing could be more sublime 
than its veiled magnificence. There was a fog, 
it was true, but it was a vast veil of pearl-tinted 
tissue, and out of it rolled the huge breakers, like 
giants at play, whose locks were white as wool, 
and their great pale arms entwined in majestic 
sport. 

We were passing on high bluffs close to the 
shore. The curious and precipitous clay banks 



FIRST VIEW OF PACIFIC 65 

were worn into fantastic shapes. Here and there 
we could see, far down, fishermen's huts and set- 
tlements, and occasional villages. Oil wells, also, 
with their hideous cranes and well machinery 
closely jostled together in eager greed, offended 
our sense of the picturesque, with their uncom- 
promising utility ; but on and beyond all was the 
mighty deep, muffled by the mist, and looking 
more mysterious and magnificent with its great 
dashing breakers than if we were viewing it under 
the light of the brightest day. 

With the attendant symphony of this deep 
shrouded sea, we reached San Diego. 



X 



San Diego. — The Bathing-House.— Alarming Disappear- 
ance. — The Mystery Solved. — Carriage Drive to Mis- 
sion cuffs. — Coronado Beach. — The Museum. — The 
Hotel. — High Fog. 

Our ride of four hours from Los Angeles to 
San Diego was rather warm, and after our arrival 
we cared to do little more than lounge about the 
station in the evening. Near by was a most in- 
viting bathing-house, beautifully fitted up with 
all sorts of appliances for comfort, not the least 
of these being a superb swimming-pool, whose 
tempered waters were sending to us insinuating 
invitations to take a good plunge and enjoy the 
charms of their dark, silent depths. It was too 
soon after eating, and we put it all off until next 
day. 

When we men folk returned to our car from 
the adjacent bath-house, a feeling of gloom and 
melancholy settled down upon us. The " Lu- 
cania " was silent and lonely, save for the ser- 



ALARMING DISAPPEARANCE ^y 

vants. Not another soul was visible. The ladies 
had all disappeared ! 

Here was an alarming state of affairs. Those 
who had wives, were as though they had them 
not, and those who had not wives, were as though 
they had. We were all alike disturbed and mis- 
erable at the unaccountable absence of our better 
halves. What had become of them ? We seemed 
to be quite on the outskirts of San Diego. The 
wide streets, stretching away in darkness, looked 
terrible and forbidding. Who could tell what 
desperado might not have made away with them ? 
It would be a mere matter of a sudden stoop 
down from a horse, perhaps, a seizure by a pair 
of strong arms, a wild ride over the boundless 
plain, and misery would settle down upon us as 
another mysterious disappearance had to be re- 
corded, and remain possibly forever unexplained. 
We called a council of war, so to speak. We de- 
termined to investigate, and boldly plunged into 
the unknown town in search of our lost ones. 
Every man we met had the possibilities in him, 
to our excited imaginations, of a double-dyed cut- 
throat ; every saloon was a gate of Hades ; but we 
bravely pushed on. We found ourselves soon in 
rather an attractive street. Shops were gay with 
life. The ever-present electric lamps gave us 



68 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

their cold glitter and their fantastic shadows, un- 
til at last, joyful sight, we saw all our ladies shop- 
ping to their hearts' content in a Chinese curio 
shop, where a great, bland, round-faced China- 
man, like a six-foot baby, was all smiles and at- 
tention to the purchasing crowd. We joined 
them as if nothing had happened, and remained 
with them until we saw them safe back. All the 
preceding is summed up in one of the ladies' 
diaries briefly thus: ** We arrived at San Diego 
at 6 P.M. After tea the ladies of the party 
started out to see the town, visited two curio 
shops, and went back to the car before nine, and 
received a very severe scolding for going off by 
ourselves." The italics in the above are mine. 

I think the ladies served us right, for we should 
have awaited their pleasure; but who could have 
dreamed that they wanted to do anything more 
than rest after their fatiguing ride ? 

The comical side of the whole thing is this: 
that our ladies, in their little independent cruise 
in San Diego, were as safe as if they were in any 
Eastern village. San Diego is, in fact, a typical 
American town of the better class, nurtured by 
Boston capital, so largely invested in stock of the 
Santa F6 Railroad, whose western terminus is at 
San Diego, which is also peopled by New Eng- 



CORONADO BEACH 69 

landers, who have duly brought with them to the 
Pacific Slope, a full and perennial supply of their 
steady habits. 

In our one full day in San Diego we saw much 
to interest us. A carriage drive took some of us 
over Mission Cliffs, others went round in the 
great, double-decked tram cars, and all took in 
the vast extent of San Diego, as it lies on a huge, 
sloping shelf over the Pacific, giving constant 
prospects of the mountains and the sea. We also 
visited Coronado, the city so called, the beach, 
and the hotel. The city, on the great peninsula 
between San Diego Bay, a beautiful expanse of 
water, and the great ocean beyond, has, of course, 
what every Western effort has — a future. 

The beach, where the great rollers of the Pacific 
dash in, was magnificent; but one cannot safely 
bathe thereon. The water is heroically cold, and 
the surf too fierce and heavy for ordinary mortals. 
The sea water, warmed, tamed, and confined in 
a bath-house, is what is safest to take. 

I quite sympathized with one of our ladies who 
declared to me that she was never more disap- 
pointed in her life than with the beach at Coro- 
nado. " Why," said she, ** I thought I could 
gather shells and sea-weed, and pick pretty peb- 
bles; but there is nothing." Well, she was right 



^o A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

in a sense. Perhaps it was because that particu- 
lar spot was harried over and over by visitors a la 
Coney Island, so that it was bare of all those curi- 
ous things " cast up by the sea;" or perhaps it 
was that the huge surf constantly tumbling in 
raises the sand perpetually, and buries all objects, 
whatever they may be, rapidly out of sight. 

One of our party, who wished to improve the 
occasion and also give me a treat, paid fifty cents 
a piece for himself and myself to gain admission 
to a museum on the beach, said to be a wonderful 
collection of interesting things in natural history. 

I noticed rather a startled look upon the lady 
caretaker's face as the money was paid. I may 
here say we found the doors open and a sign at 
the entrance giving price of admission. We might 
have pushed in without the formality of a cash 
payment, but the dignity of our cloth forbade. 
My friend really made an effort to summon the 
caretaker from some inner recess. She took our 
money — his money, I should say — with a startled 
air, and we entered. 

Well, the less said the better about that museum. 
No wonder that our payment to get in was start- 
ling. We who had seen Kensington, the Crystal 
Palace at Sydenham, the British Museum, the 
World's Fair, and about one hundred and twenty 



THE MUSEUM 71 

years of life between us, were greeted with shabby 
plaster reproductions of this, that, and the other; 
with jute-haired, manufactured monsters and other 
absurdities ; the only thing that really commanded 
our respect being an American coon tolerably 
well stuffed and set up. We left disgusted. My 
reflection to my friend was that in such localities 
the best things were always " free shows," as I 
pointed out to the boundless Pacific; the hard, 
firm sand of the beach ; and 

" The white arms out in the breakers, tirelessly tossing." 

But the melancholy of the museum had yet an 
outside chapter, for there were cages of wild 
beasts — miserable captives — and some wretched 
monkeys, whose capacity for the pathetic grief 
which was stamped upon their poor faces, turned 
one's thoughts inward to the tragedy of all life. 

The hotel was one of the many " largest hotels 
in the world," and is really a wonderful place. 
The great interior court, with glass roof covering 
in a collection of tropical trees and plants, was all 
a thing of beauty. Into this magic place quite a 
number of rooms opened. The dining-room, the 
ballroom, the verandas, the sun-parlors, the pub- 
lic rooms — all were vast, grandiose, and what one 



72 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

might say " perfectly splendid." I pity the taste 
of any one who could stand all this splendor, with 
its crowds of people, for any length of time. It 
seemed rather deserted when we were there ; too 
late for one season, too early for another. This, 
and a certain shabby want of repair here and 
there, made the place seem somewhat sad. It is 
no easy matter to keep up a show place of such 
huge extent, with the hungry air of the great 
Pacific ever whetting its teeth upon every atom 
of its vast and profusely ornamented surface. 

While at San Diego, we noticed a weird effect 
common on the Pacific Coast, resulting from cer- 
tain curious atmospheric conditions. The heavens 
at times are hung with a great veil of what is 
called " high fog." This bank of vapor shuts out 
all the upper sky. Between it and the earth is a 
stratum of hot, dry air, down through which the 
collected moisture above can never descend. It 
has to float off to the distant mountains. It has 
to be caught by their rocky arms, and turned into 
rain or snow, and then descend as rivers to the dry 
and dusty plains beneath. 

When we were starting out on our carriage ride 
in the morning, as I noticed this lowering mass of 
vapor above us, I asked the driver if it was going 
to rain. " Lord," said he, with an amused and 



HIGH FOG 73 

bored shrug, " it will not rain here until next 
November!" It must have a queer effect upon 
people to be constantly held in the vise of such 
inevitable and square-cut atmospheric influences 
as these. 



XI 



San Diego to Santa Barbara. — The Old Mission. — The 
Inner Cloister. — The Afternoon Ride. — The Lady of 
the Blue Jeans. — Samarcand. 

Our car moved off from San Diego in the early- 
morning, before breakfast. We enjoyed that meal 
en route for Los Angeles, returning there by 
the way we came. After a delay of a few hours 
in the lovely city of rose-covered homes and em- 
bowering trees, we began our journey to Santa 
Barbara, which we reached well on into the even- 
ing. Our course brought us soon again to the 
ever-attractive shores of the great tossing ocean, 
ever full of mystery, and provocative of brooding 
thoughts. 

When we arrived at Santa Barbara, it was toward 
evening, so tea and a stroll filled up the close of 
our day of travel. 

The next morning found us ready for a full day 
of what turned out to be exquisite pleasure. A 
drive to the old Mission of Santa Barbara, with 



THE OLD MISSION 75 

a prolonged stay within the charmed shade of the 
old cloister, filled the forenoon. 

The antiquity of more than a hundred years 
seems an eternity in such a new land as this, and 
hence the old mission seemed old indeed ; but it 
had the lustre of the dim past also, for our guide 
was a monk of St. Francis, and his religious dress 
carried us back for over six centuries to sunny 
Italy and the cradle of his order, Assisi, where 
St. Francis dwelt. 

Santa Barbara Mission is one of the best pre- 
served of the many old Spanish religious settle- 
ments yet remaining in Southern California, and 
its style gives the norm of all the rest. It has a 
certain grandiose air suggestive of Spanish mag- 
nificence, and reminds one of those stately crea- 
tures one meets so often in Spain, who ask for 
alms with high-toned elegance, and return thanks 
"with the manners of a prince. Such was Santa 
Barbara. Before the chief entrance of the chapel 
was a grand flight of steps, with a generous plat- 
form capable of giving standing-room to any 
church ceremonial or gathering of worshippers. 
It was made up, it is true, of small mason work 
and stucco; but the effect was there, and that 
effect was good. Entering the chapel, we found 
ourselves in a stately, flat-roofed building of con- 



ye A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

siderable height and length. There were several 
altars at each side, and a number of religious pic- 
tures, quite of the Murillo school, and a Pieta in 
plaster, just as one finds Michael Angelo's great 
masterpiece in St. Peter's. Beyond all, was the 
high altar, rather poor and shabby, but pathetic, 
nevertheless, in its earnest purpose, with its hang- 
ing lamp telling of the Sacramental Presence 
within the Tabernacle. The tomb of the first 
Roman Catholic bishop of California is at the 
Epistle side of the altar; and close by, on the out- 
side, are other graves. 

A lay brother took us all over the place. We 
rang for him at the entrance door in the cloisters, 
and found him a sweet-faced, cheerful, humble 
man, delighted to please us and be our guide. 

We were shown the little museum with some 
splendid old service books, those huge folios which, 
before the present cheap reproduction of modern 
small volumes, stood in grand state in the centre 
of the choir, and all placed themselves around and 
sang from the noble and precious pages. There 
were relics, too, of the times when the Indians 
were in their primitive condition, the childlike 
pupils of the patient Franciscans. It was not 
much of a display, but its very meagreness made 
it pathetic. 



THE INNER CLOISTER ^^ 

Our lay brother took us into the second enclos- 
ure ; that is, within the convent proper, where 
no women are admitted, except in most special 
cases, and as a mark of honor to noble ladies. 
Some of us felt quite elated at the distinction 
thus given to us as men, but the ladies pooh- 
poohed at our airs, for from the neighboring 
tower they could look down and see into the 
whole place, and declared there was nothing 
specially in it. Well, there was not, but there 
would be if they were there. 

We went also into the well-kept cemetery, 
where a great crucifix kept solemn watch over the 
sleeping dust of the departed. It was all beauti- 
ful with flowers, a lovely place of peace and rest. 
One cannot help respecting those missions which 
are so frequently met in California. They repre- 
sent an immense amount of patient, humble, and 
persistent labor. 

We all took a great, four-horse vehicle in the 
afternoon for an excursion to Sycamore Canon, 
to which spot, however, we never got, and did 
not regret it a particle. We stopped at an orange 
ranch half-way, and there we stayed. We wanted 
to have an " orange wallow," as I called it, and 
that we got under the trees of a superb orange 
orchard, where the ground was lush with grass 



78 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

and a general air of luxurious opulence was on 
every hand. This verdure results, I understand, 
from the higher elevation of the place, which 
catches the ** high fog" from the Pacific. The 
moisture of this vapor condenses on the trees and 
plants, taking the place of rain, and, to a great 
extent, of irrigation. 

As we were winding our way up the steep as- 
cent, with its ever-increasing view down the val- 
ley and over the Pacific, we could not but be 
elated and inspirited with our surroundings. We 
were, it may be said, a rather noisy crowd. 

In this happy state on we went. As we jour- 
neyed, we noticed a woman dressed in blue jeans 
busy at work in her garden. She seemed too 
busy to notice us. The ordinary rustic curiosity 
to see the noisy newcomers was entirely absent. 
She never once looked our way. 

In ten minutes or so we were, in various groups, 
returning from the farmhouse where we had got- 
ten permission to have all the orange wallow we 
wanted. Then we again met the lady of the blue 
jeans ; but this time she was looking at us with an 
amused expression on her face, and when one of 
our company, yielding to an impulse of gallantry, 
lifted his hat to her, she pleasantly returned the 
salute, and called out to us, from the height on 



THE LADY OF THE BLUE JEANS 79 

which she stood, in a clear, ringing voice, ** Won't 
you come up and see my roses ? Come, and you 
will find more surprises." Of course, we climbed 
the hill, and soon found ourselves in a veritable 
fairyland. We were on a spur of the mountain 
which spread out in a plateau covered with beauti- 
ful turf. Rich trees surrounded it on three sides, 
while on the other it was open to the sea view, 
revealing to us the curving beach of Santa Bar- 
bara, miles away, with the white breakers dashing 
upon the shore. The great deep beyond was dim 
and empurpled with the haze, while all around us 
was a garden glowing with fruits and flowers of 
kinds that were rare and beautiful, and for the 
most part strange to us. 

After enjoying all this under the guidance of 
our hostess, who bestowed La France roses and 
American Beauties among us with liberal hands, 
we were invited into her house. This was a ram- 
bling, one-story structure, beautifully planned, 
and filled with treasures of art from many climes. 
The lady of the place gradually let us know in the 
most simple way that she had travelled far and 
wide. She was at home in India, and had passed 
through the principal countries of the world. We 
spent a good long time in this charmed spot. 
We were offered refreshment, and left with a 



8o A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

sense of gracious hospitality offered in a most 
graceful way. Her blue jean working dress, for 
she lived almost at work in her garden, became 
her well. The only consciousness she showed 
that she might have wished it otherwise was as 
she prepared to escort us to our brake; she dis- 
carded her sunbonnet and donned coquettishly a 
little white one of muslin, which, there was no 
denial, became her better than that she wore at 
her lovely work. 

We waved her farewell as we descended from 
" Samarcand," the name of her beautiful place, 
the site of which she herself had selected, plan- 
ning also her home and all its beauties of tree and 
flower and fruit. 

The poet of the party put his impressions of the 
whole affair in verse, and here it is : 

SAMARCAND 
Santa Barbara 

How can we speak the glad surprise 
Which met us on that morning ride — 

The glory of the boundless skies, 

The mountains in their stately pride ! 

And greater yet the misty deep, 

Which, huge and vast, swept out afar 

In dreaming beauty, silent sleep, 

Which storm, it seemed, could never mar. 



SAMARCAND 8i 

But better than the boughs which hung 
With golden fruit and blossoms sweet, 

And better than the flowers which clung, 

Were words which there our hearts did greet. 

They said, " Come see my roses red ; " 

They came from frank, sweet face, and eyes 

W^hich gleamed with happy mirth, and said, 
" Come here for further yet surprise." 

We climbed the mount, we grasped the hand, 
We looked upon the gracious face ; 

We saw the wealth of " Samarcand," 
The Place, and Lady of the Place. 

Fit setting for so warm a heart 

Seemed orange grove and mountain side ; 
Of nature's best she seemed a part. 

Yea, more ; of all, its greatest pride. 

Too soon the time to part drew near. 
The farewell words at last were said ; 

But memory ever will hold dear 
Her Home, Herself, her Roses red. 
6 



XII 

Leaving Santa Barbara. — Delay at Saugus. — Viewing the 
Wreck. — Brentwood. — The Mission Mass. — The Social 
Afternoon. — The Garden and the Homing Pigeons. — 
The Grape-Shot.— The Chinaman's Pipe. 

We had yet one more sweet glimpse of Santa 
Barbara as we left in the early morning hour. It 
was soon hidden from our view, but not from our 
memory, where it will ever abide, a place of sun- 
shine and flowers, where the old and the new 
stand face to face — the old ocean and the everlast- 
ing hills, and the fresh young life of California, 
with its exuberant surroundings and genial hos- 
pitality. 

Our next point was Brentwood, which we hoped 
to reach ere the close of day, but a wreck on the 
line ahead kept us for hours waiting at a place 
called Saugus until the track could be cleared. 

Saugus was as forlorn as a muddy beach at low 
tide, but some of us made the most of our un- 
promising surroundings. The uncertainty of the 
moment of our departure kept us ever within 



VIEWING THE WRECK 83 

sound of the warning whistle of the engine, so 
that our little rambles in the woods adjoining 
were rather nervous and fitful, but yet better than 
nothing. 

After all, it is a comfortable thing to be safe 
away from a wreck, and a detention for our secu- 
rity from accident ought to bring gratitude rather 
than fretfulness at all times. 

In due time " All aboard! " was sounded, and 
then off we were, climbing up into the mountains. 
It was a continual feast to look at their ever- 
changing forms, and watch the curves and twists 
of the railroad as it scaled their heights. 

We reached the wreck, the cause of our delay, 
and even in our rapid glimpse of it we could see 
the havoc which had been done in that one ** smash 
up." Sacks of flour were hurled hither and 
thither, their contents scattered on the rocks ; cans 
of fruit were shot about like warlike projectiles ; 
and the eccentric heaping of engine, tender, and 
freight cars gave us an idea of the impetus of the 
force which caused the whole disaster. Fortu- 
nately no lives were lost. 

It was Sunday morning when we reached Brent- 
wood. It was a scattering village of detached 
houses in the midst of a vast plain through which 
the railroad ran, straight as an arrow, from horizon 



84 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

to horizon. The somnolence of Sunday and of 
nature hung over all, giving little promise for the 
twenty-four hours we were to stay there ; yet un- 
promising as it all seemed, we passed there a very 
enjoyable time. 

We were left to our own devices all day, for 
Dr. and Mrs. Humphreys and the members of his 
family, went off in the early morning, to visit some 
relatives ranching in the foot-hills of the encircling 
mountains, which enclose the vast plain, on which 
Brentwood stands. How beautiful and ever-vary- 
ing those mountains were ! They told us new 
stories from morning until night — now a romance 
of purple and gold ; again, a story of less heroic 
character, as they stood out plain and clear in the 
sunshine ; and again, a tale of deeper mystery, as 
the night shadows gathered upon their sides, and 
the moonbeams gave a strange brilliancy to their 
higher peaks. 

Brentwood and all its belongings was before us 
for the Sunday. After an exploring tour, we 
found two churches, a Campbellite and a Meth- 
odist. They did not look particularly inviting, 
although the hymn singing in one by the Sunday- 
school children touched us. We still strolled on 
and came upon a group of people busily engaged 
taking flowers into a long, blackened shed which 



THE MISSION MASS 85 

we were told was the town hall, and that there 
a Dominican monk was to hold services that morn- 
ing. A fine-looking young German of the tall, 
black type was busy arranging the rude temporary 
altar, and a number of ladies and others were 
assisting him. My German friend offered us an 
introduction to Father Burke, the monk in ques- 
tion, but we declined, not wishing to intrude upon 
him before his Mass. 

The hour for service came, and we were on hand, 
with a varied crowd from the town and country 
adjacent, quite a goodly number. There was a 
large, white curtain hung back of the altar as a 
sort of reredos. It did not reach the floor, how- 
ever, and as the platform was rather high, we had 
a preliminary view from almost the knees down 
of all the necessary preparation and vesting, more 
interesting than edifying. But the service itself, — 
in the character of the congregation, the mothers 
with their babies, the young, restless lads, the old 
people of other days and other climes, and the 
young people of California growth, — all made up 
a most interesting study. The music was quite 
good, being provided by some visitors from San 
Francisco ; two ladies, whom we afterward met, 
having voices of excellent tone and real culture. 
An Ave Maria and the Sanctus were especially 



S6 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

well sung. Father Burke gave an offhand ser- 
mon, well arranged and thoughtful, suitable for 
Christians of any orthodoxy whatever. It was 
good to hear him. 

My German friend, after service, again invited 
me to call. It turned out he was the tavern- 
keeper in the place ; so after our pleasant midday 
dinner on the " Lucania," we all adjourned to the 
hotel, where in the parlor were the choir of the 
morning service, several other ladies and gentle- 
men, and, taking his ease and enjoyment, also 
Father Burke. We spent more than two hours 
in the happiest way. Stories were told and songs 
were sung, and libations of the best California 
vintage were offered us, all ending with ** The 
Star Spangled Banner," sung by all standing. I 
say all standing, for two ladies, said to be Spanish 
sympathizers, remained seated glumly on a sofa, 
but were good-naturedly drawn to their feet by a 
laughing companion, and made to assume the 
virtue of patriotism if they had it not. 

By this time the train was due, and Father 
Burke, the lady singers from San Francisco, and 
their friends had to leave us, obedient to the im- 
perial mandate, " All aboard ! " 

My German friend again came to our assistance 
in the way of amusements, and invited us into his 



GARDEN AND HOMING PIGEONS 87 

hotel garden. It was a humble little enclosure, 
but in the centre, coming up through some rock- 
work, there was an iron jet which he let on, and 
made a fountain of for our pleasure, quite refresh- 
ing to look at. The distant mountains, too, which 
appeared so far away as one looked from the open 
plain, seemed here strangely near and pictu- 
resque, when seen through the arched openings of 
the enclosing trees. Our friend also had a sur- 
prise for us in some homing pigeons of rare ex- 
cellence, of which he was specially proud. He 
showed us his pet prize winner with its eyes and 
carriage like a genius. He went in among them, 
and seemed so tender with them, and interested in 
them, that it was all a thing of poetry of the high- 
est kind ; the great tall man and the fairylike 
shapes and motions of his beloved birds. He 
took out of the cote the very best of the lot, and 
gave it to one of our young ladies to let fly out- 
side, so that we could see it circle round and 
round, and then make for its home again. 

By this time it was toward evening, and we 
could descry in the dim distance the return of 
Dr. Humphreys and his family, as their carriages 
wound along the plain back again to Brentwood. 

Night brought us a silver moon, which added 
new beauty to all our great surroundings of plain 



88 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

and mountain, and we could look back over a day- 
filled to overflowing with interest and pleasant- 
ness, the half of which is not told ; but we must 
at least mention the grape-shot which was picked 
up on the railroad track, and which set us think- 
ing of how it got there. Was it fired from a Span- 
ish cannon in early days, or by settlers in some 
Indian difficulty, or marauding trouble, or when ? 
We must also tell of the happy Chinese laundry- 
man whom we interviewed under the light of the 
moon, the very picture of placid, contented com- 
fort, as he smoked a huge pipe with stem two feet 
long. Poor soul, all in his loneliness, coming out 
from his little hole for a breath of fresh air and a 
touch of that great nature which is ever so good 
to us all if we will but let it. Our Chinaman told 
us that his pipestem was especially valuable, that 
it had the excellent quality of making the smoke 
cool, and that such stems, being made of the tea 
shrub, were very rare. One of our number next 
morning wished to purchase the said pipestem 
from " John,*' but he refused all offers, saying he 
would not give it for fifty dollars. 



XIII 

San Francisco. — Bustling Traffic. — Railroad Employees. — 
The Flagman.— The Palace Hotel— The Seal Rocks.— 
Sutro Residence and Baths. — The Presidio. — Sentinels. 
— Golden Gate Park. — The Memorial Cross. — San Fran- 
cisco and Edinburgh Compared. — The Cable Cars. — 
Chinatown. — The Opium Den. — The Goldsmiths' Shops. 
. — Across the Bay to Tiburon. — The Bohemian Club. 

In San Francisco we had a couple of full days 
and fragments of two others, all too short to fully 
take in the wonders of that romantic city, so 
bizarre, so strange, and in its way so attractive. 

After coming across the Bay from Oakland, we 
found ourselves in the midst of the noise and 
bustle of the railroad yards, fronting on a street 
crowded with teams and wagons from morning 
until night ; and in the night, the ever-resounding 
snorts of the iron horse were not found as sooth- 
ing as the nightingales of San Remo ; but one can- 
not have everything. If you travel thousands of 
miles in the same car, and are proud to reach 
home in the same palatial manner, the nuisances 



go A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

of the depot are of minor importance, after 
all. 

The huge wagons hung low near the ground, 
groaning under merchandise in transit, and the 
splendid horses which drew them were worth look- 
ing at. The ever-wakeful life of railroad men and 
their unceasing labors must increase one's respect 
for that class of people, so strong, so active, so 
intelligent, and so self-reliant, which garrison the 
fortresses and outposts of trade all over the Ameri- 
can continent. Such a life is a training-ground for 
.possible armies of another kind, which a touch on 
the American flag, or on our national honor, could 
transform in a flash into a formidable and reliable 
force in any emergency. 

In my musings while in this busy place, my 
attention was called to a flagman just opposite 
where our car was anchored. I explored his 
shanty and had a good chat with him. His little 
place was bright without and within. Outside 
were flowers and shrubs; within not a speck of 
dust was to be seen. It was as shipshape as the 
best kind of a New England home, having a place 
for everything, and everything in its place. 

In the intervals of his labor, he had time for a 
quiet rest on an improvised seat outside his cabin 
door. That seat attracted me. It was like stone, 



THE PALACE HOTEL 91 

but its peculiar shape told me it was a joint from 
the vertebrae of a whale. It was just a piece of 
gigantic bric-a-brac, well seasoned, which one 
might covet. I asked him what he would take 
for it. " Oh," said he, " I could not sell that; it 
was here before I came, and will remain after me." 
One could not but respect the sentiment which 
would regard a tradition rather than pocket a 
possible dollar. I had too much admiration for 
such fine feelings to offer to tempt the man again 
with a new proposal. 

A little later on in our stay, we all adjourned to 
the Palace Hotel, an enormous hostelry which 
was once the wonder of the continent, and yet has, 
with its huge interior glass court, a certain air 
about it quite magnificent. 

From there we made excursions to some of the 
stock sights of the place. We went out to the 
Seal Rocks and saw the Pacific breakers dash up 
on the huge crags, where the seals, or sea-lions 
rather, for they are not true seals, mowed and 
roared and tumbled over each other in their 
awkward progress on the cliffs. We saw them 
also in their element, darting gracefully through 
the waves. We saw Sutro's Baths near by, a 
huge structure with splendid accommodation for 
bathers. We saw also the grounds and residence 



92 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

of Sutro, the rich man who built those baths at 
his own expense, and for the benefit of the people. 
The grounds of the residence were filled with 
statues and ornamental sculptures, too lavish for 
good taste ; but, let us admit, at least, that the in- 
tention to thus decorate was certainly good. We 
also saw the Presidio, or army station, and were 
severely, but most politely, warned off from cer- 
tain points by armed and mounted sentries. It 
was a little touch of the war spirit and order, not 
displeasing. The sentry with whom we parleyed 
was a type of the American soldier, self-reliant, 
unconventional, intelligent, and polite. When 
one looks at such men, they see the new ideas 
which have discarded forever the millinery of mili- 
tary life. There are no more restraining straps 
and buckles; no more pipeclay; no more propping 
up, like trussed fowls, of chest and shoulders; but 
all is free, natural, and unrestrained. 

We drove out over the bare sand hills, which 
myriads of lupins of various shades of purple and 
yellow, were doing their best to clothe and glorify. 
We came to Golden Gate Park in our drive, and 
thoroughly enjoyed its extent, the glory of its 
trees and strange shrubs, and, among other sculp- 
tures, the splendid monument to Francis Key, the 
author of the " Star Spangled Banner." From 



THE MEMORIAL CROSS 93 

the park, we could see the surrounding moun- 
tains, and on their slopes the distant buildings of 
various educational institutions, of splendid pro- 
portions. 

The great stone cross, commemorative of the 
first religious services held on the Pacific Coast 
in the time of Sir Francis Drake, loomed up 
grandly at some distance from us, but we could 
not get our Jehu to drive us to it ; there was always 
some excuse at hand. The late George William 
Childs, of Philadelphia, caused its erection, to 
commemorate these first services of the Church 
of England; but a cunning myth is circulated in 
San Francisco that it is an advertisement for a 
stone quarry ! 

San Francisco, situated as it is, on a series of 
precipitous hills, presents some magnificent and 
picturesque views. It is a sort of gigantic and 
altogether exaggerated Edinburgh. When one 
thinks of Edinburgh, however, with its castled 
crag and Holyrood, and the gardens right through 
the city, one is almost ashamed to compare a bijou 
like it, with a huge creature like San Francisco, 
which suggests, somehow, a kind of prehistoric 
being, of dragon-like shape and unimagined power. 

This prehistoric suggestion which San Francisco 
gives, is further carried out by the untempered 



94 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

breath of its climate. The trade winds blow in 
fiercely in the afternoons, and the chill sea fog 
creeps over everything with a ferocious persistency 
quite appalling. The promontory on which the 
city stands is open to all gales, and one's clothing, 
throughout the year, must be of such a kind, as 
always to be capable of resisting borean blasts. 

This strange, unfamiliar look of San Francisco, 
is further carried out by the huge, reddish-yellow 
bars which mark its form. These are the streets, 
which ride up and down in uncompromising 
straight lines and parallels, right over every ob- 
stacle which they meet. 

The barbaric forcefulness which laid out straight 
streets sheer over little mountains, has developed 
in San Francisco the cable-car system, which here 
reigns supreme, tugging everything along with it. 

It is no easy matter for a tenderfoot from the 
East, to ride in such cars on a first attempt, with 
either comfort or dignity. On one stretch you 
are ascending at a fearful angle, then for a brief 
space you are on the level, only to be whirled up 
or down, as the case may be, in a few minutes 
more. When one is sitting sideways, as is usual 
in street cars, it requires a certain diffused con- 
sciousness to preserve one's equilibrium, which, 
those accustomed to the use of seats always on 



CHINATOWN 95 

the level, cannot readily attain. This self-adjust- 
ment once reached, however, and the pivot of per- 
manence properly adjusted, one can proudly keep 
one's position like a native, and not flop over one's 
neighbors at every change of angle, as one must 
do, to one's utter confusion, on a first ride in a 
San Francisco cable-car on a steep incline. 

There were many attractions for me in San Fran- 
cisco, among friends whom I had known in days 
long gone by, in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Racine ; 
but in our short stay little more could be had than 
a handshake, a good-by, and an au revoir, which 
one hoped, that even the three or four thousand 
miles soon to intervene, would not render utterly 
impossible. 

Of course we saw Chinatown. We emerged 
from the Palace Hotel well on in the night, and did 
not return until almost a naughty hour in the 
morning ; but we all felt well repaid for our trip. I 
think, though, really, the best part of it was the 
feeling of possible danger in the sights before us ; 
and the spooky appearance of the dark, narrow 
streets, into which the moonbeams dropped, re- 
vealing to our excited gaze, gliding or stationary 
and wretched-looking Chinese, on every hand. 
Our guide was a strange specimen, a short, thick- 
set man with a queer Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. 



96 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

and an Irish name, like Duffy or McCarthy, I for- 
get which. It was droll beyond measure, to hear 
his description of the joss-house given in a sing- 
song, full of ludicrous blunders and clipped words. 
But despite of the comic in our guide, the joss- 
house itself was solemn enough, and provocative 
of thought. It was strange to see altar before 
altar, all covered with vases and lamps alight, and 
all manner of bronze bowls and incense burners. 
It was all so weirdly like what one sees in many 
Christian churches, and yet with a difference, for 
the dragons and monster forms were so strangely 
gruesome and grotesque, that it gave one almost 
an uncomfortable feeling. What did it all mean ? 
Were we at times unconsciously heathen in our 
cults, or are they at times unconsciously Chris- 
tian ? The whole difficulty was summed up in 
one monosyllable, which escaped from a brother 
clergyman's lips standing near me, and that one 
word was an astonished and emphatic " Well!!! " 
We are soon aroused from our reverie by the 
strident tones of our guide, who, taking his stand 
near a large stove in one corner, exclaims: " Now, 
ladies and gemmen, y' would s'pose that dis yere 
stove was for heating this buildin', but it ain't no 
such thing. 'Tis for sending things to dead China- 
men. They puts 'em on papers and burns 'em 



CHINATOWN 97 

here, and then they thinks they have 'em." 
Again he would show us the accumulated ashes 
in the incense bowls, and tell us that it was kept 
to put under the bodies of the " dead corpses; " 
and so on, and so on, until you scarcely knew 
whether he himself knew or not what he was talk- 
ing about. During all this harangue, a pale-faced 
celestial was seated behind a sort of counter in 
one corner, with a countenance bereft of all ex- 
pression, except the suspicion thereon of a high- 
bred scorn for us all, as a gaping crowd being led 
about among things of which none of us knew any- 
thing. This custodian, or priest, whatever he might 
have been, had a kind of jaunty cap on his head, 
and was comfortably smoking, in the most earthly 
manner, a well-flavored cigarette. We bought from 
him some joss-sticks as a peace offering, at double 
prices, and in a grand manner he bowed us out. 

I had asked the guide to draw it mild in his ex- 
hibitions, and to omit all places, so to speak, off 
color. This he did. We saw a few restaurants, 
and a Chinese drug store, where we purchased 
some strange medicines which looked more outre 
and picturesque in their material, than in any 
promise of possible effectiveness in their use. 
Among these was a dried toad neatly spread out 
upon wooden splints. This, we were assured, if 
7 



98 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

boiled into a soup, was an infallible remedy for 
leanness. Soup we knew was said to be fatten- 
ing, but he who would drink such a concoction as 
this dried skin would promise, must be deeply 
enamored of obesity. 

We also saw an opium den. This was horrible 
enough ; but the smoker on exhibition was not so 
horrible to me as the still, silent figures, stowed 
away on bunks, in the loathsome darkness of the 
place. The " John," who was conveniently placed 
in a lighted place near the entrance, lay prone on 
the hard boards of his cubicle, bent flat on his side 
like the letter w, clutching his long, villanous- 
looking pipe in his hands. Near him was a cat, 
which we were assured also had contracted " the 
habit ; " not that it too hit the pipe, but that it re- 
joiced in the heavy atmosphere. The impassive 
smoker, however, burst into a fit of most intense 
and humorous laughter, when one of us made an 
attempt to pronounce some Chinese phrase which 
he was repeating for us. " Now," said our guide, 
" he is going to take the long draw." By this 
time the bit of opium was cooked sufficiently at 
the cocoanut-oil lamp, and with cheeks distended 
and eyes closed he sucked in the smoke, and ex- 
haled it in a few moments in a large cloud. I had 
a lighted cigar in my own hands, and I could not 



THE OPIUM DEN 99 

but think that two kindred vices here confronted 
each other face to face, and my conscience was a 
bit disturbed; but at once reassurance came to 
me in a sweet female voice, for one of our ladies 
said, " Oh, do smoke your cigar; the odor of it 
is so refreshing in this dreadful place." All over 
the bunks and floor were crawling black insects, 
large and small. The guide seeing me shrinking 
from them said, " Never mind them, they never 
leave here." By this time we were glad to de- 
part and get into the purer air of the moonlit 
night. 

We walked back to our hotel, passing by bal- 
conies lit with Chinese lanterns, restaurants aglow 
with lights, and numerous Chinese club houses 
where the celestials, by cooperation, evade certain 
prohibitory enactments, and in the privacy of their 
associations, enjoy all their celestial delights. 

We also visited a manufacturing jeweller's shop 
where a lot of goldsmiths were at work. The 
whole place had on it the mark of utter simplicity. 
The instruments of the craft were primitive, almost 
rude, in appearance. Each man was seated before 
his portion of the work bench, or at a small table, 
in the narrowest possible space. An open dish 
containing some nut oil, and a bunch of vegetable 
fibre for wick, aflame at one end in a tiny light. 



loo A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

this, a blowpipe, a few little files, and some lumps 
of wax was all ; but behind this was a patient yel- 
low man, capable of quick motion, but never of 
ignoble hurry, to whom the present moment was 
an eternity of time and opportunity, of which he 
felt that himself, and all his work, were essential 
parts. But, to our infinite amusement, behind all 
this was a busy little Chinese woman, who flitted 
from man to man and bench to bench, criticising, 
blaming, encouraging, and urging on everybody, 
with a tongue that never ceased, and eyes and 
motions as alert and rapid as a humming-bird. 
Her bright little eyes, her unceasing movement, 
her evident control of all, was absolutely exhila- 
rating. Woman rules everywhere, or could, if she 
only would. 

I must not omit the mention of a glorious trip 
out across the harbor, to a watering place full of 
villa residences, nestled at the water's edge, close 
under the towering mountains which encompass 
the whole great expanse. The coloring of the 
place, the forms of the mountains, and the tints 
upon the water, all suggest the Mediterranean 
and other foreign shores. 

In the fragments of the days left us in San 
Francisco, most agreeable hours were spent in 
stores where Chinese and Japanese goods, in great 



THE BOHEMIAN CLUB loi 

profusion and splendid taste, were freely open to 
our view. 

An agreeable treat was also given me in a visit 
to the Bohemian Club, where, through an intro- 
duction from a New York friend, I met some de- 
lightful and hospitable men. In the club were 
some capital pictures produced by California ar- 
tists; among them, a great small painting of the 
redwoods seen at night, with a camp-fire in the 
foreground, most Rembrandt-like in effect. An- 
other was full of sunshine and life. It was a 
group of boys undressing in the blue shade be- 
tween two yellow sand dunes by the sea; while 
out in the ocean surf beyond, in the full light, 
were two or three, already in, having the full 
frolic of their free pleasure in the blue waters of 
the Pacific. 

But we had yet to see other places, and soon 
San Francisco was left behind. 



XIV 

Departure for San Jos6. — Palo Alto. — Advertiser. — Leland 
Stanford, Jr., University. 

Our next point after leaving San Francisco was 
San Jose. On our flight thither, we stopped off 
for some four hours at Palo Alto, and took a 
lovely ride through the gorgeous Leland Stanford 
estate, and also some others ; taking in besides, the 
wonderful Leland Stanford, Jr., University. It 
was all, it is true, but a glimpse, but a glorious 
one. Are not our best impressions often but 
the result of supreme moments ! We see and feel 
in such moments, with an intenseness, which gives 
us our best conceptions and our most cherished 
memories. If we approach a scene with the im- 
agination all wrought up, we are often apt to 
be disappointed ; for, there is that in the ideal of 
all minds which never can be realized. But, as if 
to make up for this condition of our being, nature 
and art, each alike, sometimes come upon us un- 
awares, with such unexpected beauty, that our 



PALO ALTO 103 

ideal is accomplished for us, and even more than 
realized, before we know it. Then we submit our- 
selves to our surprise, and are satisfied. 

Somewhat in this mood Palo Alto broke upon 
us. There were the rich lands in high cultivation, 
the spreading trees of various kinds, the vine- 
yards, the olive yards, the orchards, the spacious 
houses, the glowing gardens all abloom. The 
whole was a rich combination gratifying every 
sense. 

We saw in one of the gardens a beautiful piece 
of Greek art brought from Pompeii, a portion of 
a graceful curved peristyle of marble, once white 
and glistening, but now a rich fawn color, the re- 
sult of time stretching back to the beginning of 
the Christian era or beyond. Every line of the 
fluting on the columns, and the carving on archi- 
trave and capital, was fresh as if of yesterday. It 
stood there like a dream of the far past, made 
visible to us here to-day, in a garden of roses in 
this enchanting West. 

Another object also interested us. It was a 
superb living thing which might have served as a 
model for the sculptor of the Parthenon frieze. 
It was the great blooded horse " Advertiser," for 
which some fabulous sum had been offered and re- 
fused. I forget who owned the creature, or what 



104 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

the sum was which was thus offered. It matters 
not. I remember only the graceful stallion led 
out from his stall for us to look at him. His 
glossy coat, his perfect form, his noble attitude, 
his fiery eye, his strange look of intelligence — all 
these spoke of the art of Athens and the Greeks. 
The life and force, which could carve such a crea- 
ture in marble, seemed to have place also in the 
superb living creature himself. I was struck par- 
ticularly by his noble bearing, by the contour of 
his head, and also by a peculiar length of the 
upper lip, having a kind of quivering, prehensile 
property, not often seen in such animals. When 
he was led back into his stall, it seemed to me, that 
we sightseers, should have apologized to him for 
our intrusion. 

We also saw in our short stay the famous Leland 
Stanford, Jr., University. The first sight of the 
structure is rather disappointing. Its low eleva- 
tion on the broad plain on which it stands, and a 
huge chimney for heating and engine purposes 
rising above it, give the whole place the aspect of 
a machine shop or railroad works ; but on closer 
approach this impression vanishes. Then the 
spirit of the architect is understood. He had am- 
ple space for his design, and so he laid out a vast, 
cloistered parallelogram of one story in height, all 



STANFORD UNIVERSITY 105 

built of a warm-tinted yellowish stone, giving the 
richest shadows of blue and purple. 

It was a delight to gaze down the perspective 
of these enclosing aisles, and then from the arches 
to look out on the fountains playing in the sun- 
shine, to see the richness of flowers and trees and 
shrubs, all overarched by a sky of blue without a 
fleck of cloud. 

How different it all seemed to the quads of Ox- 
ford, or the backs of Cambridge, where the yew, 
the beech, and the ivy give a sombre tone of the 
past, with which the weather-worn buildings and 
the clouded skies well accord ; while the ever-ver- 
dant turf under foot, gives all a touch of a constant 
life that is ever new. 

Here all was different. The court was as- 
phalted, the flowers were as if in baskets, 
the trees were the product of untiring care. 
It was all the result of energy and art conquer- 
ing nature and chaining it down to a definite 
work. 

The whole University speaks of this forceful en- 
ergy. It is the result of fortune amassed by un- 
tiring purpose and sleepless activity ; but all the 
intense activity which it symbolizes has on it the 
touch of a tragedy, which lifts itself and its concep- 
tion, into a far higher sphere than ordinary things. 



io6 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

It is the crystallization of affections which shine 
out from grieved hearts. It is the memorial of 
an only son taken from boundless fortune and all 
that earth could promise — taken in the first flush 
of his beautiful manhood, from parents, whose 
whole life was centred in his being. 

There is a touching pathos in the picture of 
this youth, as it looks down from the walls of the 
library, on the group of young students, men and 
women, gathered there to reap the benefit of the 
institution which his fortune sustains, and ever 
will sustain. He was the sole heir to vast estates, 
to many commercial interests, to great enterprises. 
All that was his, is now devoted to the uses of 
those who teach and are taught, in the Leland 
Stanford, Jr., University. 

One leaves the place with regret. One turns 
back longingly to take a last look at its quaint 
Spanish architecture, and one treasures up the 
memories of it all with greatest pleasure. One 
remembers the quiet of the marble mausoleum in 
the woods, where father and son rest side by side, 
waiting for the completion of the family group 
beyond the tomb. One also calls to mind the 
beautiful museum which our time would only 
allow us to glance at ; and also, the many pictu- 
resque homes springing up all about the Univer- 



STANFORD UNIVERSITY 107 

sity, the whole leaving an impression upon us 
which cannot soon be forgotten. 

Our four hours in the luxuriant surroundings 
of Palo Alto and the University, every moment 
filled in with busy sightseeing, caused us to enjoy 
the rest of our further railroad ride to San Jose. 



XV 

Through Santa Clara Valley.— Arrival at San Jos^.— Old 
Friends. — Semi-tropical Climate. — An Excursion to 
the Stars. — The Lick Observatory. — Our Journey 
There. — Sunset on the Summit. — With the Great Tele- 
scope. — The Tomb of James Lick. — The Midnight Ride 
Down the Mountain. 

After leaving Palo Alto, our journey revealed 
to us an ideal Californian landscape. We passed 
through the lovely Santa Clara Valley. Rich cul- 
tivation met our eye on every side, interspersed 
with fine forest trees, all hemmed in by the ranges 
of the surrounding mountains. These vast masses 
enclosed the whole view with their ever-varying 
outlines, soft and purple in the distance, while the 
foreground of orchards, with their rich herbage, was 
all of the deepest green. It was a picture to take 
away with one as, indeed, that of a happy valley. 
But in this connection the word valley must not 
be construed in any limited sense. It was a vast 
champaign of almost boundless extent, which the 
fairy-like coloring of the mountains, softened by 



OLD FRIENDS 109 

their great distance, enclosed, as it were, with 
banks of unmoving clouds. Through this delight- 
ful country we sped on rapidly, until at the even- 
ing hour, we reached San Jose, and once more, 
came to our night anchorage in the station. 

We had had a full day of it, and, as if by mutual 
consent, we separated into various groups to wan- 
der at will through the strange streets of the 
pretty place. It was pleasant to look at the rose- 
covered cottages and the well-kept lawns, seen by 
the glitter of the electric light ; as also it was pleas- 
ant to stroll through the busy streets with the 
shops all aglow, and the people lounging about in 
happy leisure. 

I wandered off, all alone, to hunt up some friends 
who had moved to San Jose from distant Illinois, 
years and years ago. I found the street and num- 
ber in a drug-store directory, and strolled on and 
on under the deep shadows of the overarching 
trees, losing myself once or twice, but after some 
inquiry, I was soon piloted to the place and rang 
the bell. There is always a little trepidation in 
such an adventure. Will one be remembered ? 
Will the friends be much changed ? Will one be 
welcome ? But soon all doubts vanished when 
my good friend, Mrs. G , stood in the door- 
way, lamp in hand. Yes, she was changed; but 



no A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

the years had made her look more and more like 
her dear mother, whose face I could never forget. 
Instantly my name was spoken and I was at home. 
The whole house was rather topsy-turvy; carpets 
all up, and everything in that state of desolation 
which house cleaning involves. But what did 
that matter ? We had a long and good talk over 
all the past. I was told how, when they came to 
San Jose in the early days, they had first to go to 
New York, then take a steamer to the Isthmus, 
to cross that, and then once more embark on the 
Pacific for San Francisco, and from thence come 
here by team. I was shown the pictures of the 
five lovely girls and the boy, a man grown — all 
Californians — and I saw that happiness and pros- 
perity, which rejoiced me much, had come to 
these my friends. 

The evening hours lengthened out while our 
chat went on, until I had to retrace my steps once 
more under the overarching trees to the " Lu- 
cania," after promising that I should dine with 
the family on the coming Sunday. This I did, 
and saw them all, and enjoyed the hour to the 
fullest. The Chinese man-servant, cook and but- 
ler in one, was noiseless perfection in his attend- 
ance, and the works of his art which he placed 
before us, were well worthy of our attention ; while 



SEMI-TROPICAL CLIMATE in 

California claret, of tenderest texture, helped to 
whet our appetites and loosen our tongues. 

But we must return to the Saturday which in- 
tervened before that dinner. The morning was 
spent in a drive through the town — through the 
garden would better describe it, for it was all a 
garden, with rose-embowered roofs or stately man- 
sions framed in by towering palms and stately 
growths of other graceful trees. It is strange to 
see the effect which this semi-tropical climate pro- 
duces on familiar plants. The sweet geranium 
towers up until it becomes almost a tree, covering 
the whole ends of houses with its perfumed leaves, 
and the English lavender emerges from its island 
modesty, and stands up on this American soil with 
all the self-assertion of an independent shrub. In 
one of the parks we saw the little English daisy, 
but that was the same " wee crimson-tipped 
flower " that it ever was. It brought tears to the 
eyes of some of our party, as the springs of home 
memories welled up within the breast. What 
volumes do blossoms ever speak to us ! A bunch 
of red primroses, discovered once by chance among 
the myriad common yellow blooms which glad- 
dened the woods all about us, stands out forever 
in our memory, as a sudden revelation of beauty — 
and all for us who found it — which no subsequent 



112 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

possession of far greater worth, has ever yet ex- 
celled. 

But the friends, the flowers, the fruits, and the 
foliage of San Jos^, charming as they all were, 
could not detain us. We were bound for the 
stars; and at noon or thereabouts, a happy party 
of us took passage in a large brake, with four 
horses, for the Lick Observatory on Mount Ham- 
ilton. We were armed with an introduction to 
Professor Schaeberle, the astronomer in charge, 
and the electric wire had flashed also our coming, 
beforehand. 

It was a merry party that rattled out of San 
Jose and looked down on the orchards on either 
hand as we whirled by. Our ascent was grad- 
ual at first, but soon the magnificent, winding 
roadway, which cost Santa Clara County nearly 
$100,000 to construct, took us up, and up, ever 
extending our view, and giving us fresh vistas of 
surprise, as we dashed by curves and grades which 
made the nervous among us more nervous still. 
But there was little to fear with such good drivers 
and well-trained animals. They knew their busi- 
ness, and were as careful of themselves as if we 
were not in existence. The ever-increasing pano- 
rama of the mountains was full of interest. The 
great, swelling foothills were yielding and soft- 



AN EXCURSION TO THE STARS 113 

looking in their brown outline, dotted over by 
huge, woolly-looking, dark green live-oaks and 
other trees. The whole effect was like a gigantic 
piece of old Flemish tapestry. If some giant 
horsemen with winding horns and bounding dogs 
of like vast scale, and a stag with antlers touch- 
ing the mountain-tops, and a castle like Walhalla 
were in our vision, the thing would have been the 
ancient tapestry, indeed, in true Californian pro- 
portions. It was all beautiful as it was, the mossy 
brown of the mountains, and the dark green of 
the trees, and over all a cloudless sky, and in our 
lungs the clear, pure air, full of elation and vigor- 
ous life. 

Of course in such a mountain drive we changed 
horses frequently, and at Smith Creek we made a 
long halt for supper. It seemed that that much- 
desired meal would never arrive, and the fear that 
we would miss the sunset view from the summit, 
added to our impatience. It so happened that 
there was a rush of visitors that day, and we had 
to wait our turn while the limited domestic force 
in this isolated spot, renewed their labors in cook- 
ing and serving another meal. 

The perfect imperturbability of our host was a 
thing to admire. No amount of muttered dis- 
content moved him a particle. He did not show 



114 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

impatience even, when we lined up at the dining- 
room door; by this action, and the rush which it 
intimated, suggesting that we felt he might come 
some game upon us, and let some more favored 
ones in first. When we did make the rush, and 
saw the well-filled tables, and saw also the patient 
wife and daughter, neither of them over-robust, 
who had to do all the work, no '* help " wishing 
to stay up there, we almost felt ashamed of our- 
selves for our grumbling. 

We soon got through our eating, and once more 
were en route for the summit. We got there be- 
fore sunset all right, and were received in most 
hospitable fashion by Professor Schaeberle, who 
showed us through the long halls and into the 
library, where transparencies and photographs of 
eclipses and double stars, and various other celes- 
tial phenomena charmed us, until at last it was 
announced that the royal presence of the sun 
was about to sink to its rest, in the distant west. 
Then all were soon out on the grand terrace, and 
as we watched the great, round orb vanish from 
our sight, a silence fell upon us all, the cause of 
which it would be hard to put into words. We 
had seen the great mystery of life move on a 
point. We thought, perhaps, of the angel trum- 
peter, who some day will say so that all will hear, 



WITH THE GREAT TELESCOPE 115 

" Time shall be no more ! " We thought, perhaps, 
of that day when we should close our eyes upon 
the earthly sun forever, and days for us should 
be at an end. 

As the darkness settled down, so solemnly and 
grandly on the mountains, we retraced our steps 
to the Observatory, and followed our kind guide 
through its many mysteries. 

We first looked through some of the smaller 
telescopes. In one of these, while the glow was 
still in the heavens, we saw Venus, the evening 
star, in all its beauty. The earth currents, through 
which we had to look, gave the glowing planet a 
purplish tinge and a sort of vibratory motion, 
which quite suggested the floating movements of 
the goddess, as she figures in Virgil's verse. 

We saw all sorts of instruments, of the most 
delicate and yet simple character, for recording 
seismic disturbances of any kind, or, as we might 
call them in plainer speech, earthquakes. It is 
most interesting to note how a glass disk, a little 
lamp-black, a spring or two, a bit of clockwork, 
and a tracing-pen, will do the work automatically, 
and record the direction, the duration, and the 
time of any seismic disturbance at any hour of day 
or night. The brain which contrived all this cun- 
ning machinery, can go to rest and take its needed 



ii6 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

sleep, but the wires and traps set to catch the 
shakes of the old globe, are always wide awake, 
animated ever by the intelligence of the brain 
which sleeps, and can sleep in peace ; for, when the 
brain wakes, it will find that the machine has faith- 
fully recorded every quiver of this old, trembling 
world. Professor Schaeberle told me, with quiet 
humor, that earthquakes of some kind were always 
going on, but so slight that machinery alone could 
detect them. 

After seeing the many minor attractions of 
transit instruments and meridians and other affairs, 
which some of us wondered at, in complete, but 
polite and interested ignorance, we were at last 
ushered into the presence of the great Lick tele- 
scope. The immense dim space in which we stood, 
the half-seen figures of the visitors, the professor 
and his attendants, with lanterns in their hands, 
accenting the gloom by the very light itself, made 
up a weird picture. Then, towering over all, was 
the movable dome, with the great notch from top 
to bottom of its curved surface, open to the sky, 
for the great telescope to reach through ; while the 
great instrument itself, in its huge proportions, its 
intricate machinery, and the wonderful ease of its 
movements, as it yielded to the slightest touch of 
a hand, seemed like some living thing, some being 



THE TOMB OF JAMES LICK 117 

of superior intelligence from some other sphere, 
captive and at work for our pleasure and our 
profit. Who can ever forget the mystery of it all 
in the silent darkness of that night ! 

But before looking through the great tube, the 
professor, with quite unintended, but most dra- 
matic effect, called our attention to a black-look- 
ing object at the base of the great pier, on which 
the telescope stands. It was like an altar, as we 
saw it in the dimness, but a lantern flash upon the 
front showed us it was a monument above the 
last resting-place of James Lick, by whose munifi- 
cent bequest of seven hundred thousand dollars, 
the Observatory on Mount Hamilton, with all its 
wonderful instruments, has been established for 
all time. 

It was a thrilling thing to see there in the dim- 
ness that plain, unpretending tomb, and to read 
thereon the short and simple record: 



JAMES LICK. 
1796 — 1876. 



But what a life story is revealed by the dash 
which separates those figures, 1796- 1876 ! Eighty 



Ii8 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

years of toil and endurance, toil in early youth, 
toil in manhood, toil in the midst of amassed 
wealth, until the inevitable end at last came. He 
was born in Fredericksburg, Pa., where he re- 
ceived a common school education. He learned 
the trade of an organ builder and piano maker in 
Hanover, Pa. He went into business in Balti- 
more, Md., and also in Philadelphia; but his des- 
tiny drove him away to Buenos Ayres, to Val- 
paraiso, and other places in South America, until, 
in 1847, h^ settled in California, where he became 
interested in real estate, and in due time amassed 
a large fortune. His strong face, which greets 
one in bronze, at the Mount Hamilton Observa- 
tory, bespeaks a powerful and stern character. 
He never married. He was deemed by those who 
knew him to be " unlovable, eccentric, solitary, 
selfish, and avaricious," but when this is said, the 
memory of it is somewhat condoned, for there 
was a romance in the case — he was crossed in love. 
It is hard to judge of such a man, and of such 
circumstances. He certainly has made amends 
for all his shortcomings, or tried to, if they were 
as related, by his munificent bequests to charity, 
and above all to pure science. When one looks 
at his carpenter's bench, preserved as a relic of his 
workman's life, and then at his tomb in the still 



THE TOMB OF JAMES LICK 119 

silence and darkness of the great telescope cham- 
ber, and then remembers all that this silent, lonely 
man has done, one cannot but believe that he 
had in heart, all along, great ideals which none of 
those about him, in the vulgar strife of life, ever 
imagined. What can be more unlike a narrow, 
selfish, unlovable, and avaricious man than his 
splendid offering of a fortune to keep eternal 
watch upon the stars ? 

These thoughts danced through one's brain in 
presence of it all. We were grateful to the old 
man, whose face, singularly like that of John 
Brown of Harper's Ferry fame, seemed to em- 
body the tragedies and aspirations of life; and we 
thought of his silent dust beneath us, as through 
his gifts we looked at Jupiter and his moons, and 
noted the strange belts which band the planet, 
brought near to us by the lens of the Lick tele- 
scope. We saw also the crested edge, glittering 
like molten silver, of the moon of this our own 
planet, and longed to wait until Saturn should 
rise, and other wonders open before us. Professor 
Schaeberle made me the fascinating offer to stay 
all night, and go down the mountain in the early 
morning; but I kept with the party, and, well after 
eleven at night, we started on the home run down 
the mountain to San Jos^. 



120 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

The coming up was grand indeed, but the going 
down was better. The great moon flung its radi- 
ance over the vast expanse. It was a symphony 
in gray and silver. It was a downward plunge 
into black mysteries of overhanging mountains. 
It was delirious with possible dangers. It set 
one's heart throbbing, and the best relief we could 
have was in song and shout which roused the 
echoes of the night. 

We subsided into silence when we reached safety 
and the plain, and were rather bored than other- 
wise, as we cantered into the deserted streets of 
San Jos^ at half-past two o'clock in the morning. 
How tame seemed the dull surroundings of even 
that pretty place at such an hour — a few saloons 
yet aglare, a light in an occasional window, all the 
rest ghostly, silent, and yet commonplace, too, 
after our splendid excursion to the stars. 



XVI 

Sunday at San Jos^.— The Big Trees.~The Fruit Farm at 
Gilroy. — Hotel del Monte. — The Ramble on the Beach. 
— The Eighteen-Mile Drive. — Dolce far Niente. 

We stayed at San Jose over Sunday, and at- 
tended church morning and evening, furnishing 
from our number the preacher for both services. 
The church had a good choir of men and boys, 
surpliced, which was, very sensibly, placed near 
the organ in one of the transepts. A much better 
arrangement this is than putting all in the com- 
pass of a small chancel. To have choristers close 
up to the altar is not a commendable use, though 
very general. The structural choir of a cathedral 
gives ample room for singers and worshippers, 
with dignified and clear space about the chancel 
proper. The ordinary parish church, in its whole 
extent, should be treated as if it were just such a 
structural choir, with the singers well among the 
people in raised seats, for the prominence of their 
office and the better effect of the music. 



122 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

We had time on Monday to take another stroll 
among the roses and palm trees of San -Jose, and 
then the car " Lucania " in the forenoon took all 
our party, except one, to Santa Cruz, for an excur- 
sion to the Big Trees, about ten miles from there. 
All this I missed. From the leaves of the diary of 
one of the party I quote the impression of the trip : 

" When we reached Santa Cruz we found a 
four-horse stage and a carriage awaiting us, into 
which we got, and were driven back into the 
woods about ten miles, along a road that wound 
round with a deep canon on one side, at the bot- 
tom of which ran a river. We finally forded this 
river, and went into deeper woods, where we found 
the ' big trees. ' They were a grand sight, these 
solemn old trees, said to be four thousand years 
old, some of them towering up three hundred feet 
or so, and sixty and ninety feet in circumference. 
We all got into one, and our party of thirteen had 
plenty of room left for several more people. This 
tree was called after General Fremont, who lived 
in it while surveying in this region. Before that, 
it was occupied by a trapper, whose children were 
born in it. There are sixty acres of these trees 
which have been preserved from the ruthless greed 
that is rapidly destroying those priceless giants 
of the ages." 



FRUIT FARM AT GILROY 123 

It was a regret to me that I could not have seen 
the mystery of those venerable trees, but I had a 
duty to perform in visiting some relatives residing 
near Gilroy. It gave me a nearer impression of 
the Santa Clara Valley and its life. My visit was 
to a fruit ranch entirely given over to the growth 
of prunes. The part of the great plain where I 
was, is cut up into small farms, and these are 
tended, usually, by the members of the family. 
The work is limited and light. After the trees 
are planted, nature, pretty much, does all the rest. 
When the fruit is ripe is the time of most applied 
and constant labor. Then, under the shadows of 
the live-oaks, the whole family attend to the cur- 
ing of the fruit, which has to be dipped in lye and 
dried in the open air. It is a pretty and pastoral 
occupation ; and with a horse, and a cow, and 
some poultry, an easy and comfortable life can be 
had. It lacks, however, the robust discipline of 
legitimate farming, with its varied enterprises, and 
constant changes of crops, of times and seasons. 
It is a lotos kind of existence, and when I heard 
of the meeting of reading circles, and of whist 
clubs, in which regular accounts of rubbers were 
kept, all through the winter, I knew that leisure 
was ample and life easy. 

While in Gilroy I saw the little Episcopal 



124 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

church, and enjoyed the happy pride of the old 
EngHsh gentleman, who for more than thirty 
years, had been senior warden, and had seen Breck 
and the other California pioneers who labored 
arduously for the Church in early days. I under- 
stood that Breck had planted the two eucalyptus 
trees which guarded the entrance porch of the 
little building, trees which have now grown up to 
be quite large and imposing. 

Leaving Gilroy, I awaited our Santa Cruz party 
at a junction somewhere, and joined them for our 
run to the Hotel del Monte, and Monterey. 

As in all Santa Clara Valley, our way was 
through fruits, and flowers, and rich vegetation, 
until at last, we were once more at anchor, in the 
grounds of the Hotel del Monte. 

After tea we wandered out in the twilight 
through the umbrageous woods, and found that 
we were separated from the ocean only by a fringe 
of trees and shrubs, and some sand dunes, over 
which we had an exciting climb. 

The lonely walk, with the roar of the breakers 
in our ears, and their white foam breaking upon 
the beach, was a charming close for our day, 
whether we had seen the solemnity of the giant 
sequoia, or the humbler conditions of rural life 
on a ranch. 



THE RAMBLE ON THE BEACH 125 

Stunted cedars in contorted shapes, battered 
and twisted by storms, began to look more weird 
in the gathering gloom, but before the light had 
quite faded out, we had filled our hands with 
bunches of a pale pink flower, like a morning- 
glory, with which the sands were dotted. The 
little fragile flower clung tenaciously to the shift- 
ing ground in which it grew, and gathered from 
all its hopelessness of surroundings, a vigorous 
life, much of tender beauty, and a fragrance which 
was refreshing. Nature always shows us how to 
make the best possible use of any environment 
whatever. Here, in sands which shifted, amid 
storms which blew, in utter humility and loneli- 
ness, the flower developed firmness, beauty, and 
fragrance, and gave evidence of constant vigor 
and of useful life. 

We had two full, glorious days at Del Monte, 
and they were hours of utter enjoyment. The 
hotel and its well-kept and extensive grounds were 
enough for a week, at the least, of intense pleasure. 
The site is a promontory of sand dunes, covered 
with pine and other native forest trees. The sur- 
rounding waters, the yellow sands, the clear, de- 
licious air, the equable climate, the illimitable 
ocean — these were the raw material for the ex- 
quisite result, which one sees at Del Monte. 



126 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

In the immediate neighborhood of the hotel the 
landscape gardener has done his best. There, one 
hundred sixty acres of well-kept grounds feast 
the eye. Irrigation brings the life-giving current 
to the sandy soil, and, while we look almost, the 
turf is green and velvety, the flowers bloom, and 
the fruits appear. 

Nothing can be more bewitching than the wind- 
ing drives to the hotel. Great forest glades inter- 
cept the view, and give impression of still greater 
distance ; or, a vista opens before one, and the 
huge pines tower up, their naked trunks wreathed 
closely to their topmost branches, with ivy and 
other creeping plants. 

Wherever one looks there is evidence of intel- 
ligent care. One sees it in the rich flower-beds, 
models of good taste ; in the arboretum ; in the 
cactus garden ; in the Maze ; in the unexpected 
groups of cultivated plants, where the enclosed 
garden joins on to the outlying wild. And, in this 
wild itself, what beauty does one find! The 
great ocean, the cliffs, the sea-lions, the Chinese 
shell-gatherers; the winding drive of eighteen 
miles, by ocean, through rich land, and through 
the wild-wood, winding back again to the hotel, 
and all its graceful beauty and luxury. The place 
has all the sumptuousness of an English ducal 



HOTEL DEL MONTE 12; 

palace standing on its ancestral grounds, with the 
added charm here, of space, and vastness, and that 
the whole place belongs to every eye which sees it 
— that is, if the hand can dip into the pocket and 
pay the necessary bills. But even without this, it 
does seem to belong to everybody in a certain 
true sense. The American hotel of every class, 
has about it a generous air of freedom for all, 
which is most remarkable. 

We were independent of the place in our own 
well-appointed car, and yet how freely all was at 
our bestowal ; the corridors, the music, the read- 
ing and reception rooms, and all the magic per- 
fection of the gardens. All was free as air, and 
we could wander at will, by the lovely lake, or in 
the charming gardens, or in the splendid hotel, 
without let or hindrance. 

Here is a place where one might enjoy a thor- 
ough good rest, lapped in soft airs, close to the 
throbbing bosom of mother earth, within sight 
and sound of the sea, and housed in a hostelry 
which on every side speaks of comfort and refine- 
ment. There is no gaud or glitter, but ever the 
suggestion of home and all that home means. 

On one of our days there we took the eighteen- 
mile drive which I have incidentally mentioned 
above. It brought us through the old town of 



128 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Monterey, a little sleepy place, with many relics 
yet in it, of the days of '49. Houses still remain, 
of which the bricks, or iron plates, used in their 
construction, were brought from Liverpool or 
Australia, or other points, when upon the shores 
of Monterey the fierce tide of adventure dashed 
high, made eager for effort by the thirst for gold. 

During our stay at Monterey we — that is, some 
of us — passed hours on hours strolling on the 
sands, and reclining in utter abandon on the shore. 
It was, to the full, the unutterable delight of an 
entirely irresponsible existence, which took no 
thought of time, not even of its flight, and luxuri- 
ated in the clear, pure air, the dashing breakers 
at our feet, and the blue heavens above. 

There was little of minute attraction upon the 
beach. It seemed as if all was on too huge a 
scale for mere minor attractions. There were no 
rocks to sit upon, but a whale's huge skull, half 
buried in the sand, made a good enough seat, and 
debris of that colossal character was all about us. 

But it mattered not. The very place itself, and 
the great Pacific, stretching off westward to the 
Orient, gave scope enough for the wings of our 
imagination, and we had present pleasure also, as 
we lay, in complete idleness, prone upon the warm 
sands. 



DOLCE FAR NIENTE 129 

The declining sun, however, warned us to re- 
trace our steps once more to the '* Lucania," 
where all the pleasures of home awaited us, and 
the varied experience of our day gave us conver- 
sation until bedtime. 

But before that hour, we were on our way back 
once more to San Jose, where, the next day, we 
spent some hours renewing our former pleasant 
experiences, even with greater zest. Our ladies, 
who went out for a walk, came back laden with 
gifts of flowers from hospitable friends, the ac- 
quaintances of the moment; and, as we started 
from San Jose for Oakland, our car looked like a 
bower of roses, laden with perfume. 
9 



XVII 

Oakland Ferry-house and Pier. — The Russian Church. — 
Off Eastward. — Crossing the Mountains. — Hydraulic 
Mining. — Stop at Reno. — Nevada Deserts. — Ogden. — 
The Playing Indian. 

As we turned our backs on San Jose, we began 
to feel that we were heading for home, and were 
descending from romance and flowers, to the 
more commonplace conditions of existence. I 
question if it would be good for us to lead too 
long, the ideal and refined Bohemian life, such as 
a well-appointed car, and no care, affords. 

It was with a sort of shock, that, after hours 
of travel, through smiling plain and upland, we 
found ourselves in the prosaic environment of 
Oakland. 

Our car was run out to the end of a pier, which 
stretched for miles, it seemed, into the bay. 
The vast expanse of water about us, the great 
city away off across the bay, and the frail-looking, 
but yet perfectly safe, piling on which our car had 



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 131 

place, gave a tone of empty loneliness to every- 
thing, and we could not but feel gloomy. 

We were becoming fastidious. We wanted 
** roses, roses all the way," and absolutely were 
oblivious to the energy which had created this 
huge pier, crowned with the really splendid ferry- 
house, and a ferry-house is no uninteresting thing. 
How little do we think that the whole ferry busi- 
ness in the United States, especially in great 
centres such as New York, presents the most dis- 
tinctively American thing we have ; the very tri- 
umph of common sense and directness of means 
to the proposed end. 

We availed ourselves of the splendid ferry here 
at Oakland, for a little run once more in San Fran- 
cisco. My errand was to try and hunt up the 
Russo-Greek church, and see something of it. I 
got to the place, and saw the exterior of what was 
once a magnificent residence, but now a decayed 
mansion in an unfashionable part of the city. It 
was given an ecclesiastical effect by being topped 
with several melon-shaped domes of zinc, brightly 
painted ; these, and the pale blue on walls and 
doors and windows, gave quite the effect of Russia. 
My visit, however, was fruitless. The fathers 
were all out, and a servitor in attendance opened 
the door, only a few inches, for a cautious parley. 



132 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

That glimpse showed me some rather rich paint- 
ings in the interior of the dwelling, but I had to 
rush back to our car without waiting for the re- 
turn of the fathers, or the view of the church, 
which, I am sure, they would be glad to show me. 

Once off from Oakland, we were indeed on the 
home-stretch, but we had the mountains to climb, 
and much more to see. 

We passed through Sacramento, the capital of 
the State, merely giving it a glance, as we jour- 
neyed on into the glory of the mountains. 

But of these mountains, how shall we speak! 
It was all a grand crescendo of magnificence, 
until the snowsheds, erected over the tracks, shut 
out the splendor of the scenery from our view. 
But even the glimpses through the chinks were 
worth looking at. We saw far beneath us the 
silver shield of a lonely and lovely lake, where in 
spirit we went. We saw, too, the glory of sunset 
tints upon the frozen peaks of distant heights. 
We saw, too, the great lines of the mountain-sides, 
in successive sweeps, pine-clad and lovely, but 
gigantic in their vast and repeated lines. The 
whole ride through those sheds was tantalizing 
and yet interesting. It certainly was a daring 
thing to conceive a protection from the winter's 
snow, of such extent ; and to keep it all in repair. 



HYDRAULIC MINING 133 

ever watched, and tended, must be an enormous 
task. It was a splendid sensation to climb those 
mountains on our iron horse, but yet one would 
fain see them better, and loiter a little among the 
camps and mining towns, and know more of the life. 

My attention was aroused to the fearful effects 
of hydraulic mining as we journeyed on ever 
upward. Here and there, one could see the 
fearful work which ensued from such methods. 
The whole face of a mountain would be torn off 
bare, and the valley beneath filled in with refuse, 
to the depth of three hundred feet. It all looked 
like a great wound on the venerable mountains, 
while the river-beds in the valleys were choked, 
and distorted from their channels. 

A brakeman who was showing me a pocketful 
of nuggets and specimens, laughed me to scorn 
when I bemoaned the scarred and tortured look 
of the hills in sight. " What," said he, " are 
mountains good for but to get such stuff as that 
out of them?" as he tossed up a fragment of 
gold in the air, and caught it on his open and 
greedy hand. But, after all, how much more im- 
portant mountains are as mountains, than mere 
gold-bearing protuberances, and how much more 
precious rivers are as life-givers to man and beast, 
rather than gold-bearers in their shifting sands. 



134 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

We were glad to know that legislative enact- 
ments have been made upon such mining proces- 
ses, and that certain restrictions and limitations 
are in force, to protect nature against wasteful 
greed, and the reckless spoliation and destruction 
of mountain-side and valley stream. 

After our climb up the mountain, towards even- 
ing we found ourselves at Reno. A wait for sup- 
per is made here (we were, of course, independent 
of such wayside places), during which we stretched 
our legs on the platform, looking at the many 
odd-looking people in view. 

A freakish notion got into me to be odd also, so, 
just to astonish the natives, I donned my Japanese 
kimino, made of camel's-hair cloth of light buff 
hue, reaching down to my heels. With this on, 
I dared one of our ladies to walk with me, offer- 
ing her my arm. This she did, with a good grace, 
and we certainly were the observed, if not the 
admired, of all observers. 

Some of our party followed us at a little dis- 
tance to gather up the remarks. " Here comes 
Brigham Young, I guess," was one of them; an- 
other was, " That's Pope Leo, ain't it ? " and yet 
another was, " No, it's Bishop Sommers." But 
in the midst of the fun, of which of course I 
seemed to be oblivious, my eye caught the grave 



NEVADA DESERTS 135 

face of a simon-pure Jap, in American dress, stand- 
ing by, with eyes, as wide open as he could get 
them, evidently mystified at my appearance. He 
could vouch certainly for the genuineness of the 
kimino, but the tout ensemble was too much for 
him. I felt really sorry for the poor little Japa- 
nese, he looked so lonesome, all alone in the 
crowd. Possibly he might have felt badly that 
his possible brother countryman did not stop and 
speak with him ! 

After leaving Reno, our way took us through 
Nevada, which we passed in the night. When 
day dawned upon us we found ourselves in deso- 
late places, more lonely desert than anything we 
had yet seen. The following poem by Charlotte 
Perkins Stetson most vividly describes the death- 
like aspect of the place. It is called — 

A NEVADA DESERT 

" An aching, blinding, barren, endless plain ; 

Corpse-colored with white mould of alkali, 
Hairy with sage-brush, shiny after rain. 
Burnt with the sky's hot scorn, and still again 

Sullenly burning back against the sky. 

" Dull green, dull brown, dull purple, and dull gray, 
The hard earth white with ages of despair, 
Slow-crawling, turbid streams where dead reeds sway. 
Low wall of sombre mountains far away. 
And sickly steam of geysers on the air." 



136 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

In due time we reached Ogden, a busy-looking 
place. We did not leave our car, however, for 
any inspection, waiting for the short run to Salt 
Lake City, where we were to spend the night and 
the next day. 

In the midst of all the car-tracks, and the many 
signs of commercial activity, a capering Indian, 
with a blanket flung round his shoulders, amused 
us by his childish glee and activity. He was in 
the exuberance of his wild freedom, among all the 
business and anxieties which civilization brings. 
What did he care for it all! He was having a 
good run, and, for the fun of it, was racing with a 
young fellow on horseback, and was making rather 
good time, too. I was interested in this child of 
the past, this offspring of wild life, as without 
thought or heed for anything but the present 
moment, he lived out his day. 

In a short time we were at the city of the Mor- 
mons, seeing in the distance, as we approached it, 
the spectral waters of the Great Salt Lake. 



XVIII 

Salt Lake City. — The Governor of Utah. — The Zion Co- 
operative Store. — Thoughts on Mormonism. — The 
Semi-annual Conference. — The Eisteddfod. — The Mor- 
mon Temple. — Organ Music. — Panoramic View of Val- 
ley. — Statue of Brigham Young. — Excursion to Saltair. 
— Departure from Salt Lake City. 

We had a full day in Salt Lake City, altogether 
too short a time for that interesting place, but we 
made the most of it and saw much. 

We were favored with letters of introduction to 
Governor Wells, whom we found in the State 
House, in most democratic fashion. He seemed 
a perfect type of Utah, as seen at its best, cheer- 
ful and healthy, utterly unconventional. He 
seemed kindly by nature, and not from mere rules 
of etiquette. He received us in the office of the 
secretary of state; and, in his eagerness to ar- 
range for some pleasure for us, in our short stay, 
he did not even think of asking us to be seated. 

An additional carriage was soon hospitably 
placed at our disposal, in the kindest manner, and 



138 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

in it the governor himself gave us his company. 
We went first to the great Zion Cooperative 
Store, a huge establishment run by a joint-stock 
company, all members of the Church of the 
Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons, as their more 
familiar designation runs. Here, one could see 
that mixture of everyday life and religion, which 
is such a marked feature of the Mormon develop- 
ment. 

Mormonism, sprung from American soil, has 
developed within itself the ideas of Church and 
State, and the limitations of individual freedom 
and responsibility, which one would imagine only 
possible under the most extreme conditions of 
belief in the divine right of kings, and the more 
positive divine right of a visible church. 

There is nothing new under the sun, and the 
principles which we supposed America never could 
brook, are here seen in embryo, or in fact, by the 
thoughtful observer. In view of the comfort and 
happiness Avhich one sees in Utah, and the mutual 
sympathy which the ideas I have mentioned ex- 
hibit, one is forced to pause and ask himself. May 
there not be an object-lesson for us in all this? 
May we not have thrown away from our social 
state, with too stern a hand, all reliance upon 
churchly influence, and exaggerated also that idea 



THOUGHTS ON MORMONISM 139 

of personal independence, so dear to us, forget- 
ting that the individual, in all the relations of his 
life, is a part of the state, a member of the body 
of the nation, and should be the object of its sym- 
pathy, its care, and its government, at all times 
and in all places ? 

It was my second visit to Salt Lake, a place 
which has always interested me because of the 
social and religious problems which one sees there. 
In my last visit I happened casually to meet a 
priest of the Roman Catholic Church, and asked 
him offhand what he thought of things around 
him. He looked at me fixedly for a moment, and 
then said, " There is not an organization on earth 
that can compare to Mormonism, in its wide scope, 
its great grasp, and its practical application." 

I am inclined to think he is right. It was my 
accidental privilege to be in the city, during my 
former visit, while the semL-annual conference of 
the Latter-Day Saints of Utah Valley was being 
held. 

The huge turtle-shell Tabernacle, easily seating 
twelve thousand people, was filled daily. I saw 
the rank and file of Mormons, the sturdy agricul- 
turists and their wives, the latter like what one 
remembers of Primitive Methodists, apparently 
utterly oblivious of all personal adornment ; they 



I40 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

were, however, crowned with a maternity of 
which they seemed proud, as they held their chil- 
dren in their arms. 

At one end of the great ellipse of that Taber- 
nacle rose up, tier on tier of church officers, grade 
by grade, the Seventies, the Bishops, the Angels, 
the Apostles, up to the tripartite headship of three 
Presidents, the first of which was Elder Woodruff, 
venerable, simple, and wise in appearance. Back 
of all was the great organ, and a well-trained choir 
of three hundred singers. 

I heard a number of speeches or sermons, all 
offhand, and some of them rambling, but the 
aside excursions were usually on practical mat- 
ters, or to emphasize the fact that the Latter- 
Day Saints were the salt of the earth, the power 
to lead this nation upward from its bloodshed and 
wrong-doing; and hints were also given, here and 
there, that God would yet avenge the blood of 
the prophet slain at Nauvoo. 

The most striking speech was that made by Mr. 
Cannon. He looked like a well-set-up New York 
business man, faultlessly dressed in an Albert 
frock coat, with rubicund countenance and flow- 
ing mutton-chop whiskers. It was absolutely re- 
freshing to hear him, in his clear-cut sentences, 
declare that he was then and there speaking under 



THE EISTEDDFOD 141 

the direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The 
President, Elder Woodruff, at the conclusion of 
the meeting, gave his sanction to all that was said, 
thus sealing it as inspired, by his declaration. 

A superb anthem by Gounod then floated out 
over that vast audience, as all remained seated, 
taking in the power of the music at their ease. 
At its close Elder Woodruff rose, and all rose with 
him. With a trembling voice he blessed all in 
the triune name of God, and the whole assembly 
scattered in a few moments through the surround- 
ing doors of the Tabernacle. 

The Eisteddfod of our Welsh citizens was in 
full blast in Salt Lake at the same time, and at 
night I attended the concluding concert. It was 
an enthusiastic occasion. There were strangers 
from points quite distant, and the place was 
packed. The acoustic qualities of the Tabernacle 
gave wonderful power to both organ and voices, 
and the effect of the whole was very fine. 

While I was scanning the audience and choir 
with my opera-glass, one of the ushers asked me 
if he might look through it. Of course he could. 
But I noticed that he kept pretty steadily to one 
point in the choir. On remarking that fact to 
him, he laughed and said, " Yes, I was looking at 
my best girl ; there she is, near the centre, dressed 



142 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

in heliotrope crepe." I looked, too, and saw a 
remarkably pretty young woman. He further 
told me that he was a Mormon, and so was his 
sweetheart; that they were going to marry, and 
that they were both opposed to polygamy. He 
was a bright young fellow, and in our conversation 
he told me that he had been admitted to some of 
the higher grades in the Temple, and that there 
were Mormons of the lower type, who never could 
get inside its walls. 

This leads me to speak of the strange combina- 
tion of utter, naked simplicity in the ordinary 
worship of the Mormons, and the extreme of 
ritual observances which have place in the secrecy 
of the Temple. In the Tabernacle, when I first 
saw it, there was not a symbol of any kind visible, 
no cross, no flower, no sign. In my recent visit, 
however, in honor, possibly, of the new Statehood 
of the former Territory, the Star of Utah, draped 
at each side by the Stars and Stripes, appeared 
over the organ, and some motto, which I forget, 
at the other end. 

The Mormon Temple is a huge structure of cut 
granite, brought from the neighboring mountains 
on canals constructed for the purpose. It is sur- 
mounted by six pinnacles of considerable height, 
and as seen from a distance, has a good effect. 



THE MORMON TEMPLE 143 

In architecture it is, however, quite nondescript, 
but doubtless admirably adapted for its purposes. 
It was thrown open to invited guests among the 
Gentiles, or non-Mormons, the morning before its 
consecration, for a few hours' private view. I 
have been told that the various rooms and pas- 
sages were quite gorgeous and impressive in their 
furnishing and decorations. Since then all such 
visitors have been shut out, the only entrance 
thereto has been kept closed, and will be, as the 
Mormons say, until the second coming of Christ. 

The great building stands in its own grounds, 
surrounded by flowers and shrubs, kept in beauti- 
ful order. Outsiders can approach to within eight 
or ten feet of the front door, but no farther. 

A small building at one side gives admission to 
the faithful, who enter therefrom, to the Temple 
itself, by means of a connecting underground pas- 
sage. 

Mormonism is a most interesting exhibition of 
Primitive Methodism, of socialism in certain of 
its aspects, of Judaism, Freemasonry, and an- 
cient Gnostic ideas, all combined with a compact 
hierarchy, which includes various orders of priests, 
the whole thing in perfect working order, taking 
thought for all, in all things, both of soul, mind, 
body, and estate. 



144 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

We were certainly charmingly treated by the 
Mormons we met, and one must have for them 
respect and admiration. It did me good also to 
see one of the ladies who were with us, gowned in 
exquisite taste, quite a contrast to the rank and 
file of the Tabernacle. Her costume was a sym- 
phony in green, carried out in all its details per- 
fectly, even to the gloves, the sunshade, and its 
malachite handle. We cannot soon forget the 
hospitality, the grace, and the sweetness which 
made us at home in Salt Lake City, and asked us 
to come again. 

I think I cannot do better to close this Salt 
Lake chapter than to quote in extenso the very 
full notes from Mrs. Morgan's diary, which here 
I do: 

" At ten A.M. the carriages came to take us out, 
and we drove first to the State House, where we 
found Governor Wells, to whom Dr. Humphreys 
had an introduction. The governor received us 
most kindly, and he and Mr. and Mrs. Hammond 
came driving with us, and pointed out the various 
objects of interest. We first drove through the 
business streets, visiting a large department store, 
and from there to the Mormon Tabernacle, which 
is a very peculiar building, something like an enor- 
mous turtle, the dome roof coming low down and 



ORGAN MUSIC 145 

resting on brick buttresses. Between these but- 
tresses are large doors, so that, it is said, this 
huge building, able to hold twelve thousand peo- 
ple, can be emptied in four minutes. 

" Inside, a large gallery runs all round, and we 
walked to the opposite end, where we distinctly 
heard a pin dropped at the place from which we 
started, such are the perfect acoustic properties 
of the house." 

I may here add that a really gruesome effect 
was also produced by the mere rubbing together 
of the hands of the gentleman who dropped the 
pin. The distinct swish-swish of the contacting 
palms was terribly audible. 

Mrs. Morgan proceeds to tell us further: 

"The organist kindly played us a couple of 
selections, and, whether the organ was unusually 
good, or whether it was the effect of the building, 
I cannot say, but I never enjoyed music more. 
We afterwards all joined in singing * My Country, 
'tis of Thee/ 

" The Temple is a handsome building in the 
same enclosure, built of granite, but * Gentiles * 
are not admitted to the inside. 

** We then were driven past the different resi- 
dences of Brigham Young: the Lion House, 
where three of his widows still reside; the Bee 



146 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Hive, and the house where his favorite wife, 
Amelia Folsom, a cousin of ex-President Cleve- 
land's wife, resided. Brigham Young had seven- 
teen wives, and fifty-seven children. We passed 
through the Eagle Gate, erected by Brigham 
Young, seeing also a fine site where he intended 
to build a college or seat of learning. We then 
went to a point where we had a beautiful view 
of the valley in which the city of Salt Lake lies, 
and a most remarkable and exquisite view it 
was. All around were the grand, snow-capped 
mountains, guarding and holding, as it were, in 
the hollow of their hands, the city, with its wide 
streets, and lines of straight, tall Lombardy pop- 
lars, and its thousands of little homes, small and 
cosy, usually not more than one story in height. 
Of course there were mansions and houses of more 
pretentious aspect, but it seemed to me essentially 
the workingmen's home. 

" The statue of Brigham Young adorns the 
centre of the town, and while one cannot but 
abhor certain of his religious views, one cannot 
but acknowledge that he was a far-seeing man of 
great ability. 

" It is stated that, great as has been the growth 
of the city, it has not reached the limit laid out 
for it by Brigham Young, when he and his hand- 



EXCURSION TO SALTAIR 147 

ful of followers first settled in the then arid and 
desolate plain, with its brooding circle of white- 
tipped hills. 

" We returned to our car for dinner, and after- 
wards the governor arrived, bringing with him 
Colonel and Mrs. Clayton. Our car, at the gov- 
ernor's request, was attached to the regular pas- 
senger train to Saltair, a point some five miles 
distant, on Great Salt Lake. We found there a 
vast pavilion and bathing establishment, capable 
of accommodating thousands. The water of the 
lake is so strongly impregnated with salt, that 
nothing except a sort of minute shrimp lives in it. 
It was too early in the season for us to take a 
dip. We were assured that it was impossible to 
sink in the water. 

" On our way back we passed Colonel Clayton's 
salt beds, into which the water is pumped and 
left to evaporate. The salt which remains is 
piled into great heaps. Some of it, in its crude 
state, is shipped to the silver mines, where it is 
used in the reducing of silver from the ore. Some 
of the salt is taken to the refining houses, to be 
manufactured into the article of domestic use. 
We spent a pleasant hour in the great pavilion at 
Saltair, and then returned in the car to the city, 
where our kind friends took leave of us, Mrs. 



148 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Clayton telling me, before going, that I greatly- 
resembled a daughter of Brigham Young's by his 
first wife! As Mrs. Clayton herself was of the 
Mormon faith, as was also Governor Wells, I took 
it, as it was intended to be, as a compliment." 

Night was settling down upon us as we turned 
eastward from Salt Lake City, with faces home- 
ward bound. 

The picturesque desert, with its purple hills and 
terraced mountains, was all concealed by the dark- 
ness. At the early morning hour we reached 
Glenwood Springs, but decided not to stay there, 
and continued on without delay to Colorado 
Springs, reaching there on the evening of a day, 
never to be forgotten, of which we will tell in the 
next chapter. 



XIX 

Glenwood Springs. — The Pool. — The Vapor Baths. — 
Through the Canons. — Leadville. — Colorado Products. 
— Cafions in New York. 

When we reached Glenwood Springs, it was in 
the early morning. The place from the railroad 
station does not look inviting, and so it was de- 
cided to push on to Denver. 

This was a loss, for Glenwood Springs has many 
advantages, worth seeing, and a hotel of real com- 
fort and elegance. The hot springs there are 
quite extensive, and the medicinal baths are de- 
lightful. The bathing places are in the highest 
style of art, elegantly fitted up with all that 
modern appliances, following ancient models, can 
accomplish. There is also a huge, open-air swim- 
ming-pool, filled with water, from the hot springs, 
giving most luxurious enjoyment. 

It was my good fortune, on a former visit, to en- 
joy both it, and the further pleasure of a natural 
vapor bath within the rock recesses of one of the 



I50 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

mountains. It was a weird experience. It was 
late one evening, and I happened to be the only- 
bather there. The negro attendant, a most oblig- 
ing fellow, took me in charge. Under his direc- 
tions, after disrobing, he gave me a shower bath 
of cold water, and then, with a wet towel on my 
head, he ushered me into a rocky cavern. Some 
boards extended over fissures in the ground, from 
whence one could hear the gurgling of the boiling 
springs far beneath. The rocks overhead leaned 
against one another, and their great crevices were 
dark with shadows. There were a few plain 
wooden benches, blackened with the sulphur 
fumes; but, as if to assure one that the savage- 
looking place was really tame, after all, an electric 
light, in full glare, hung down from above, making 
the strange surroundings visible in all their mys- 
tery of heat beneath, and blackness below and 
beyond. I watched the experiment of the vapor 
upon myself, and soon was in a profuse perspira- 
tion. My faithful negro cautioned me not to be 
too long in my first attempt, so I was soon out 
again to get the protection of another wet towel 
on my head. After that, all was enjoyment. The 
whole experience was unique, and in due time I 
had the further luxury of a good rub down, and a 
lounge for some time on a couch, helped on also, 



THE VAPOR BATHS 151 

by a cup of good, black coffee. I could scarcely 
tell which was best ; to float in sulphur water in 
the open air, with others, under the bright light 
of day, in the big pool ; or, to be utterly alone in 
the clefts of the everlasting mountains, surrounded 
by their mysterious warmth, and melted by their 
embrace. It seemed to me the last ought to have 
the preference. 

As I have said, our party decided to press on 
from Glenwood. Hours were precious on the 
homeward run, and to have a whole day for the 
wonders of the Colorado mountains was some- 
thing. 

We first passed through the canon of the Grand 
River, a fitting prelude to all that was to come. 
Then we travelled along the Eagle River Canon, 
and, last of all, experienced the wild wonders of 
the Royal Gorge. It was a day of continued ex- 
citement and exalted pleasure. It is hard to put 
in words the impressions of these immense rocky 
passes. 

One may think of the giant forces which cleft 
asunder their rugged sides in times so far removed 
as to be scarcely conceivable. 

Then, as one sees the detached rocks, and the 
great moraines at the mountain bases, and notes 
the clinging trees, and wild shrubs, and many 



152 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

flowers, one must think of the rolHng seasons, the 
heat, the frost, the forces of the wind, and the 
storm, and the constant changes which come with 
rain and sunshine, with growth, and with decay. 

And then, wherever one looks, there, at right 
hand, or at left of the railway track, is the rushing 
river, roaring on without stop or stay — day and 
night — forever. It was these streams which gave 
a hint of the pathway; first, to the red man, and 
then to the frontier trapper, and gold-hunter, and 
last of all, to the engineers who built the iron 
track over which we were speeding, swiftly, and 
in peace. 

The picturesque effect of all is as varied as the 
thoughts which must come in such a place. The 
rapid motion of the train, the ever-changing point 
of view, as the track winds its sinuous way by the 
tortuous river-bed — all gives a sort of motion to 
the vast, overhanging cliffs, which seem to dance 
past one, like giants on a frolic. 

I remember once making the journey through 
these passes, going west from Denver. The 
view from the car windows was not enough for 
me. I planted myself on one of the car platforms, 
linked my arm round the railing, and with my 
feet on the steps, sat on the floor, swinging out, 
as far as I safely could, to take it all in. Thus, 



THROUGH THE CANONS 153 

oblivious of the dust, I sat for an hour, and at 
last, satiated by the views on views, returned con- 
tented to my seat. Just then a brakeman said to 
me, ** We are now entering the Royal Gorge." 
I had almost surfeited myself with the mere pre- 
lude to the repast. The best was brought on, 
when my appetite was, so to speak, appeased. 
But, what did appear, was too good to neglect, 
so I was soon at it again as before, and did not 
leave my perch until we had passed through all 
the glories which the Royal Gorge contained. 

The climax was reached in a spot too narrow 
for a track by the side of the raging torrent. Our 
railroad was suspended from the sides of the tow- 
ering mountains by a huge iron construction, over 
which we passed, until wider space beyond, gave 
us again a hold on terra firma. 

Through all this region there is also the evi- 
dence of energy and force of another kind. One 
sees the deserted huts of the gold-hunters, who 
prospected, it may be in vain, or made their 
" pile and cleared out." 

There is a terrible fascination in this eager hunt 
for wealth, and those who hunt all their lives, 
often get least, and die in misery. 

I was once in Victor, the next town to Cripple 
Creek, and while there, heard, in the most casual 



154 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

way, that Tom Brennan, I think that was his 
name, had been found in the mountains, dead, 
by his own hand. His luck was gone, starvation 
stared him in the face, and, old, and hopeless, in 
his lone misery, he sought death, alone. 

When one sees, away up on some apparently 
inaccessible height, an indication of fresh earth, 
and a black aperture at the top of it, and realizes 
that in that spot, some one, or it may be more, 
are digging and delving for a wealth that may 
never come, the thought is inevitable of possible 
ruined hopes, or of sudden wealth, as Fortune may 
frown or smile. But here, as well as everywhere, 
and in all relations of life, the poet's words come 

true, 

"The many fail, the one succeeds." 

It is well for us, however, that failures, which 
may be possible, never daunt us from effort, and 
the search, for that which the soul longs for. We 
picture to ourselves success ever. Failure, like 
death, too often comes, unannounced. 

It is the spirit of daring and adventure which 
still peoples the lonely mines on the mountain- 
sides; which fills the mining towns on their high- 
est crests, and which keeps the miners busy, 
whether on their highest heights, or in the close- 
ness of their deepest depths. 



LEADVILLE 155 

While on my way, a gentleman met me on the 
train, and pressed me to stop over at Leadville, 
promising that he would take me down the deep- 
est gold mine in the place. I could not stay, even 
for that approach to the presence of all-powerful 
gold. 

I am sure that the underground view of Lead- 
ville would be better than that which the sun 
looks upon. It is not an inviting-looking place. 
It lies on the great top surges of the mountains, 
having all the bleakness of a plain, and the rarefied 
atmosphere of the mountain summit, which it 
really is. 

It is always a weird thing to look at the scenes 
of early mining days in Leadville, when the fame 
of the fabulous wealth therein, entered into men's 
brains, with an intoxication, like that of some 
Oriental drug. California Gulch looks like the 
dried bed of a mountain torrent. What must it 
have been when every inch of it was staked out 
in claims, and men, by men, close together, but 
widely separate in their interests, shovelled up 
the dirt, and peered with eager gaze therein for 
the yellow gold. 

It is well to realize that even in Colorado, which 
is considered more a mining than an agricultural 
State, the farm products, at the present time, far 



156 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

outweigh in value the entire annual output of the 
mines. The prosaic toil, as some may deem it, 
of the spade, and the plough; and the pastoral 
occupation of stock-raising and dairy farming, are 
better wealth-makers than the pick of the miner, 
or the labors of the mining engineer. 

The great day of our run through the giant 
attractions of the mountains comes to a close at 
Pueblo, a busy railroad centre, where our track 
bends to the north, and brings us at nightfall to 
Colorado Springs. 

When we remembered all the glories of the 
day, the great mountain clefts through which we 
passed, the roaring torrents which accompanied 
us, the fantastic coloring of the rocks, and the 
evidences of labor and energy which we had seen 
on every hand ; and remembered also the untold 
wealth which lay concealed, whether gold and 
silver, or rock oil, or the produce of ranch and 
cattle range, our thoughts gathered up a splendid 
impression of opulence, actual, and future. 

Yet, wild and vast as it all was, we could not 
help thinking also, that the nearest approach we 
had anywhere seen, to the glories through which 
we had passed, had been already presented to us 
by the streets of New York. Yes, it is like seeing 
a Grand Cafion, to look from Murray Hill on 



CANONS IN NEW YORK 157 

some October afternoon, down Fifth Avenue. 
There it all is, — the towering edifices at each side 
are the mountains, the crowd rushes on like the 
river, — all is color, life, and motion ; and the blue 
haze of the autumn day gives vagueness and 
mystery to the descending perspective, as it comes 
to a point in Washington Square. 

One sees the same effect also on lower Broad- 
way, where the huge buildings, and the wealth 
and energy which they express, suggest ever to 
my mind the splendors of the great canons of 
the West. 



XX 

Colorado Springs. — Ascent of Pike's Peak. — The View from 
the Summit.— The Descent. — The Springs at Manitou. 
— Treasury of Indian Myth and Legend. — The Col- 
lection of Minerals. — Glen Eyrie. — The Garden of the 
Gods. — Victor Hugo on Sandstone. 

We found much to interest us in Colorado 
Springs. It is a town of great fame as a health 
resort, and lies on a splendid plateau, with the 
background of the Rocky Mountains, and Pike's 
Peak, in all its snowy splendor, in the middle dis- 
tance. 

Near by is Colorado City, and joining on to 
that is Manitou, where lie the wonderful min- 
eral springs, from which the city of " Colorado 
Springs " gets its name. 

The wise men who founded the city, knew well 
that there was no room for expansion in the 
Alpine clefts where the springs lie ; and yet they 
knew, too, their value as an attraction. Hence, 
the shrewd wisdom to bravely adopt a lucus 
a non lucendo, to call their town " Colorado 



ASCENT OF PIKE'S PEAK 159 

Springs." They had them not, it is true, but 
they were near at hand. 

It is well that they thus decided for both site 
and name ; for the place chosen, gives ample scope 
for wide streets, and all the room for expansion, 
which the coming years demand. As it is, the 
growth of the place has been phenomenal. It is 
hard to realize that the public buildings, the 
churches, the schools, and the splendid homes are 
all the result of a comparatively brief period. 

After our vast journey, we were not in much 
of a mood for more aggressive sightseeing; but 
some of our party, bravely attempted the ascent 
of Pike's Peak, on the cog railway, just opened 
for the season. 

When the party was near the summit, a furious 
snow-storm came down upon them. The track 
had been cleared of snow some days before, and 
huge piles of it lay on each side of the course, but 
this sudden storm gave fresh obstruction. Men 
were detailed to clear away the encumbrance, so 
as to get the train clear up to the adjacent sum- 
mit ; but as they were thus engaged in front, the 
snow-storm was rapidly filling in the track behind. 
It was fortunately observed that the dreadful pos- 
sibility of being snowed up on that bleak height, 
was imminent ; so all hands were called away from 



i6o A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

further effort to get farther on, and a speedy- 
retreat was made to safety and a lower level, 
where snow was not. Our merry party had a 
good snow-balling time, while all this was going 
on, and did not know, until their return, the 
fearful possibilities from which they had es- 
caped. 

The view from Pike's Peak toward the east is 
magnificent. The memory of it will never leave 
me, as I saw it years ago. The vast plain of 
Kansas stretches out, more sublime even than the 
ocean. One can mark the winding water courses, 
by the trees which line their banks ; and the dim- 
ness, which covers all the great distance, has a 
sublime effect. 

As I descended in the cog train, a furious thun- 
der-storm blotted all the landscape from the view ; 
but soon the converging lines of the mountains 
became visible, the sun shone out once more from 
the west, and that great plain was spanned with 
a double rainbow, so huge, so brilliant, so all- 
embracing, that its like could not easily be seen, 
except under similar conditions, and those would 
be hard to match. It was the most splendid 
spectacle I have ever beheld. 

We had two days at Colorado Springs and 
vicinity, and enjoyed to the full the charm of our 



SPRINGS AT MANITOU i6i 

situation at Manitou, where our good car" Lu- 
cania " again found a pleasant anchorage. 

The mineral springs at Manitou, are of iron and 
soda. They are now all tamed and chained to 
commerce ; and the place, in the season (we were 
too early for it), is a scene of excursions, and 
merry-makings, and all that kind of life which de- 
lights in shows and curio shops, and restaurants 
at all prices. 

How sacred a place it must have been to the 
wild children of the mountain and the plain, as 
they sought its mystic retreat, for the sake of its 
healing waters, and its strange, sparkling streams ! 
It was for them, indeed, from Manitou, the Great 
Spirit. 

From the parching drought of the burning sum- 
mer sun, or the ice-bound cold of winter, they 
could enter here, at any time, and find refresh- 
ment for their thirst, and healing for their wounds. 

There surely must be a whole treasury of Indian 
myth and legend clustering round this spot and 
its wonderful sacred fountains, all well worth the 
study of the antiquarian and the poet. I am con- 
fident that the place is as rich, in all such matters, 
as ever Delphi was, or the sacred places of the 
Greeks. 

We were charmed, while at Manitou, by a visit 
II 



i62 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

to a superb collection of minerals, beautifully 
arranged, and all, the product of Colorado. There 
is something especially attractive in mineral 
beauty. It took its form in the mystery of 
darkness, and there, in all its beauty, would re- 
main forever, content to be. But man brings it 
to the light of day, and we are thrilled as we look 
at the perfect forms of the crystal, at the rich ver- 
dure of the velvet malachite, at the varied vein- 
ings of onyx and of agate, and at the many won- 
ders which we admire, but cannot name. 

We were told that this splendid collection had 
been purchased for ten thousand dollars, and was 
to be shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. It 
is well worthy of such a place. 

While at Colorado Springs we had one or two 
splendid drives. We went through Glen Eyrie, 
the residence of General Palmer. The romantic 
place is kept generously open for carriages, but it 
is not permitted to any one to dismount, or drive 
in the roads marked private. It is a delightful 
spot, where nature is left yet in much of its 
wildness, and just enough of landscape garden- 
ing introduced to give a note of home and re- 
finement. An eagle's nest, high up on the rocks, 
gives the name Glen Eyrie to the attractive 
place. 



GARDEN OF THE GODS 163 

We also went to the Garden of the Gods. This 
is a great space hemmed in by huge crags, and 
covered all over with fantastic rock formations. 

As we drove through, our coachman sounded 
out the names of the grotesque groups as we 
passed them by. It required but little imagina- 
tion to improve on his list. Whatever the mind 
might fancy, the sandstone was ready to give. 
The rocks were as variable and changing as the 
clouds in " Hamlet." They might be whales, or 
bears, or dragons, or toadstools, or demons, or 
anything else vague and fantastic. 

I can imagine how such a place would set a ner- 
vous person mad. Not, that it is not beautiful 
also, in a certain sense, but, the gibing, the mock- 
ing, the absurd prevails ; and one is almost shocked, 
even when in most sober mood. The mental dis- 
tress, possible in such a place, seemed all concen- 
trated in the face of a lone young bicyclist, with 
bicycle by his side, who eagerly questioned us as 
to the way to Manitou. He had lost his way 
amid these gruesome wonders, and although it 
was ludicrous to see his distress, one could not but 
sympathize with his misery, while lost in this wild, 
so full of monsters. I may here quote what 
Victor Hugo, in his " Alps and Pyrenees," says 
of sandstone. It would seem as if he was actually 



i64 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

describing some of the fantastic forms which we 
saw in the Garden of the Gods. 

" Sandstone," he says, ** is the most interesting 
of stones. There is no appearance which it does 
not take, no caprice which it does not have, no 
dream which it does not realize. It has every 
shape; it makes every grimace. It seems to be 
animated by a multiple soul. Forgive me the 
expression with regard to such a thing. 

" In the great drama of the landscape, sand- 
stone plays a fantastic part. Sometimes it is 
grand and severe, sometimes buffoonlike; it bends 
like a wrestler, it rolls itself up like a clown ; it 
may be a sponge, a pudding, a tent, a cottage, 
the stump of a tree ; it has faces that laugh, eyes 
that look, jaws that seem to bite and munch the 
ferns; it seizes the brambles like a giant's fist sud- 
denly issuing from the earth. Antiquity, which 
loved perfect allegories, ought to have made the 
statue of Proteus of sandstone. 

" The aspects presented by sandstone, those 
curious copies of a thousand things which it 
makes, possess this peculiarity: the light of day 
does not dissipate them and cause them to vanish. 
Here at Pasajes, the mountain, cut and ground 
away by the rain, the sea, and the wind, is peopled 
by the sandstone with a host of stony inhab- 



HUGO ON SANDSTONE 165 

itants, mute, motionless, eternal, almost terrify- 
ing. Seated with outstretched arms on the sum- 
mit of an inaccessible rock at the entrance of the 
bay, is a hooded hermit, who, according as the 
sky is clear or stormy, seems to be blessing the 
sea, or warning the mariners. On a desert plateau, 
close to heaven, among the clouds, are dwarfs, 
with beaks like birds, monsters with human 
shapes, but with two heads, of which one laughs 
and the other weeps — there where there is noth- 
ing to make one laugh and nothing to make one 
weep. There are the members of a giant, disjecti 
membra gigantis ; here the knee, there the trunk 
and omoplate, and there, further off, the head. 
There is a big-paunched idol with the muzzle of 
an ox, necklets about its neck, and two pairs of 
short, fat arms, behind which some great bramble- 
bushes wave like fly-flaps. Crouching on the top 
of a high hill is a gigantic toad, marbled over by 
the lichens with yellow and livid spots, which 
opens a horrible mouth and seems to breathe 
tempest over the ocean." 

It was a regret to leave Colorado Springs, but 
dear home was before us, and Denver, which we 
reached in the darkness, brought us nearer there. 



XXI 

Denver. — The Union Station. — The Departing Trains. — 
The Beauty of Denver. — Dean Hart and the Cathedral. 
— The Funeral Service. — Seeing Denver. 

It was quite late in the evening when we 
reached Denver; but late as it was, we could 
enjoy, for an hour or so, the handsome Union 
Station, and watch the trains, made up for their 
midnight start, east, west, north, and south. 
It is really a beautiful thing to see those various 
trains, awaiting their departure, side by side upon 
the tracks. 

Their appointments are so splendid; the life 
exhibited so varied; and the lighted trains, the 
uniformed attendants, and the whole scene so 
interesting, that it is well worth observing. The 
quiet of the whole thing, too, is remarkable. It 
is all intensely busy, but almost noiseless and at 
rest. American force, ever quiet, is behind all. 
Off the trains go, as if by magic, just a little 
creeping, gentle motion at first; and then, the 



BEAUTY OF DENVER 167 

great steam monsters in front eat the ground, and 
in thunderous motion the long trains speed away, 
to their one, two, or even three thousand-mile 
destinations. How splendid it all is! To some, 
perhaps, a mere commonplace thing, but to me, 
ever a scene of deep interest, filled with human 
force, and freighted down with human cares, and 
hopes; with sorrows, too; and, let us hope, also, 
with many joys. 

In the morning we could see how Denver 
looked by daylight. The little city is a beauty 
that need not fear the day. One gets such an 
agreeable impression of Denver from the very 
first. The great Union Station is attractive, and 
when one leaves it for home or hotel, one is 
greeted by a garden of living green, and by trees 
and shrubs in flourishing verdure. These gardens 
which greet one on emerging from the station, 
are like the beautiful initial letters one sees on 
old manuscripts, all glittering in gold and colors, 
inviting one to peruse and value the precious pages. 

We had two lovely days in Denver, and our 
party scattered about at will. Some went to call 
on old friends, and cemented anew the ties which 
might rust, but could never break. Some went 
shopping, while others lounged in delicious idle- 
ness, without helm or oar, just drifting. 



i68 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

To visit Denver and not see Dean Hart at the 
Cathedral would be an irreparable loss. We 
called upon him, and found him, as he always is, 
genial, animated, and brimful of good humor and 
hospitality. Busy as he also always is, he yet 
found time to call at the " Lucania,** and to tell 
more than one of his good stories. 

Some of our party attended a missionary meet- 
ing of ladies, held in the Cathedral, and brought 
from thence impressions of earnest workers, of 
bright, telling speeches, and of much hospitable 
good cheer. 

The Cathedral at Denver is a Romanesque 
structure, of quite stately proportions, with an 
effective interior; some very good stained glass; 
a choir screen of wrought iron, interesting in work- 
manship; and the whole place has a comfortable 
sumptuousness quite attractive. It is the inten- 
tion to face the outside, some time or other, with 
native sandstone, and the interior also with some 
suitable material of more ornamental character. 

I have a memory of a service held in that 
Cathedral, which in sad solemnity I have never 
seen surpassed. 

It was the funeral of a gentleman who lost his 
life in the wild waters of the Grand Canon of 
the Colorado. He was with a railroad surveying 



THE FUNERAL SERVICE 169 

party; the boat he was in was upset, and the 
waters were so violent, that his body was instantly 
sucked down in the boiling depths, and never 
more was found. 

His dear wife was in London, when the news 
reached her. At once she returned to Denver, 
and hoped that once more she would lay eyes on 
her beloved dead. But all in vain. No human 
hand could reach the depths, where all that was 
mortal of her love, was forever hidden. 

In this sad condition of circumstances, it was 
determined to hold the funeral services, as if the 
body were present, to his wife and friends, as it 
was to God, Whose All-Seeing Eye beholds all 
depths. 

The mourning group was met at the door of the 
church; the sentences were read as usual, pro- 
ceeding up the aisle; the service went on in the 
accustomed manner, and the words of committal, 
" Earth to earth, ashes to ashes," were read, with 
the added awfulness of that body being we knew 
not where. The thrilling silence and tears of that 
congregation were almost painful as the words 
were uttered. Then came the final prayers, and, 
while we were yet on our knees, the organist, in 
deep, muffled tones, whispered out the Dead 
March in " Saul." 



I70 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

No one moved until all the strains of that sub- 
lime, yet simple wail of sorrow were ended ; and 
then, all rose in silence, and remained standing 
until the mourning party had left the church. 

It was such a funeral as few have ever seen 
with all its strangeness, and its pathos. I have 
never forgotten it. 

Perhaps during our stay in Denver, our trip on 
the street-cars gave us most pleasure, and this, 
too, at little cost. On a sign at the Brown Palace 
Hotel we saw an inscription — " Seeing Denver, 
Twenty-Five Miles, Twenty-Five Cents. " There 
was genius in that simple, fetching announcement. 
At the hour named for starting we got on board 
an electric car, and away we went. We were 
switched in all directions through the business 
part of Denver, by all the public buildings, round 
and round, and then away out to the suburbs. 
At one point we had a magnificent view of the 
mountains, with Pike's Peak, eighty miles away, 
snow-crowned, and plainly visible. 

We had a magnificent ride, and it seemed even 
more than twenty-five miles. During it all we 
were accompanied by the proprietor of the enter- 
prise, a keen-looking young fellow, who acted as 
guide, giving us his information, in a sort of lan- 
guid manner, which made his witty sallies more 



SEEING DENVER 171 

witty still. His closing, speech, in which he inti- 
mated that his sole and only motive for getting 
up this really convenient system of ** seeing Den- 
ver " was for our special benefit, was irresistibly 
comic in its assumed seriousness. He deserved 
all he got from the trip, and we wished him the 
extensive patronage he deserves. 

When we left Denver it was as if all the special 
novelties of the trip had come to an end, and the 
sooner home the better; such is the effect of 
satiety even in the luxurious travel we had been 
enjoying. 

We left Denver, teeming as it is with interest, 
the Paris of the West; and night settled down 
upon us as we bore directly east from Pueblo. 



XXII 

Through Kansas.— Kansas City.— The Cattle Yards.— The 
Bluffs. — The Fight between the Merrimac and the 
Monitor. 

Our homeward route took us through the 
southern part of Kansas. It was refreshing to 
see the vast, verdant plains which greeted us in 
the early morning light. It is a great and glori- 
ous land, and all day long we watched the farms, 
the houses, the villages, and the towns, as we 
journeyed onward, ever onward. The whole coun- 
try was in richest green, resulting from the recent 
almost too profuse rains. But nothing in Kansas 
goes by halves. It is a drought or a deluge, a 
dead calm or a cyclone. How can it be other- 
wise ! From the Rockies to the AUeghanies, it is 
all a vast, curving plain. The fluid air, in such 
a wide area, when influenced in any way, must be 
on a gigantic scale. A tilt of half an inch at one 
point, will be a mile in height, thousands of miles 
farther on. Such a proportion of oscillation tells. 



THROUGH KANSAS 173 

One could but dream of coming empire and 
Western enterprise and power yet unthought of, 
while lounging about in our flying train, home- 
ward, still homeward, every moment, over those 
vast plains. We had ample leisure for this de- 
licious, idle dreaming. We looked on, as if we 
were denizens of another world, as we saw the 
bustle at passing stations, and the play of varied 
human interests which disported themselves be- 
fore our magnificent heedlessness of it all. We 
were cut off, for the nonce, from all such care 
or thought, flying onward, filled with pleasure, 
to our Eastern home. 

It was night when we made our first stop of any 
length. That was at Kansas City. We here 
crossed the " Big Muddy," or the Missouri 
River, swollen by the extraordinary rains, and 
looking more than ever like a tawny lion. 

As we neared Kansas City we could see across 
the waters of the river to the other side, where 
myriads of cattle wandered like spectres, awaiting 
further immediate shipment east, or, the nearer 
end of the adjacent slaughter-houses. How sad 
it all seemed. The cattle, magnified by the inter- 
vening air, loomed up hugely across the brown 
waters of the river. They seemed like victims of 
destiny, conscious of their doom ; and the sullen 



1/4 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

river, and the shades of the falling day, gave fit- 
ting color and setting to the melancholy picture. 

I asked a lady by my side, " Do you see all 
those cattle ?" " Yes," said she; " I cannot bear 
to look at them." Our thoughts were the same. 

How fortunate it is for us that our poor, four- 
footed brethren cannot probe our motives as we 
fatten our flocks and herds, and tend them with 
tireless assiduity ! The beasts do love us, perhaps, 
and think us good and kind, and their best friend. 
I wonder, as they face the knife or the mallet, at 
the sublime moment of the end, are they awak- 
ened at last to the true inwardness of their false 
friend, man ! 

All this great prairie journey was a pleasant 
contrast to the great deserts and mountains we 
had passed, since we flew down through Jersey, 
the Southern States, across Texas and Arizona, 
out to California and the Rockies with all their 
wonders. 

Our stay in Kansas City was limited to a few 
hours, but in that time some of us ventured out 
on the streets, which were not very inviting, down 
on the bottom lands among the grime of the rail- 
road tracks. 

Kansas City lies, the best part of it, on high 
bluffs overlooking the great Missouri River, and 



KANSAS CITY 175 

its tributary, at this point, the Kaw. It is really 
a picturesque place, and capable of being beauti- 
fied to any extent. The bluffs are quite precipi- 
tous, and on their shelving sides a number of 
squatters have settled, with their nondescript 
cabins and huts, giving a sort of rag-fair look to 
the general aspect of the town as seen as a whole. 
But the City Fathers have awakened to the fact, 
that those precipitous bluffs can be made highly 
ornamental, by green sod and trees and flowers. 
A great park plan has been projected for all those 
curving spaces, and ere long the city will be made 
unique and beautiful by those winding, aspiring, 
and splendid plantations, out of which the homes, 
the churches, and public buildings will rise as 
from a garden. 

In our brief stay we called on our dear and old- 
time friend, the Rev. J. Stewart Smith, of St. 
Mary's, or, rather, I should say he called on us, 
for, having announced our coming by telegraph, 
he was there at the station to meet us. 

It so happened that a day or two before he had 
written, for one of the local papers, his recollection 
of the great fight between the Merrimac and the 
Monitor in Hampton Roads in the year 1862. 

How much has transpired since then ! 

In view of it all, and our Cuban War still on. 



176 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

all now happily over as I write, I thought that 
my dear friend's recollections would be of interest, 
as that of an eye-witness of that great first battle 
between armored ships. 
Here is what he says: 

** One of my earliest recollections is of the 
United States frigate, Merrimac, which anchored 
off Norfolk in 1855 before making her first voy- 
age. Like most small boys, I was deeply inter- 
ested in anything that would float, and when one 
of the officers took me on board and showed me 
everything to be seen, explaining, so far as was 
possible to make a child understand, the workings 
of a warship, I was perfectly happy. I asked 
many questions, and ever afterward I felt a pecu- 
liar interest — almost a sense of ownership — in that 
vessel. 

'* At the beginning of the war the Merrimac 
was again in Hampton Roads, undergoing repairs 
at the navy yard, just across the river from Nor- 
folk. One Saturday night early in April, 1861, 
Norfolk was abandoned by the Federal forces. 
The next day the dry dock was blown up, the 
navy yard, all the smaller crafts, the Pennsylvania, 
perhaps the largest vessel in the service — too large, 
in fact, to be seaworthy, but which had been for 
years used as a training-ship at the port — and the 
Merrimac were set on fire. 

" I can never forget the scene on that Sunday 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR 177 

morning. Words cannot describe the excitement 
of the people. The harbor was dotted with burn- 
ing vessels ; the ear was startled by repeated ex- 
plosions, and the whole scene was backed by a 
mass of roaring flame devouring shops, store- 
houses, and sheds about the navy yard. 

" The fires were brightly burning when, with 
hundreds, I found myself on the ground, which 
was still hot, picking out nails from the touch- 
holes of the heavy guns hastily abandoned. Some 
were properly spiked, nails had been simply 
dropped into others, and many had not received 
even this attention. But the thing that inter- 
ested me more than all else was the flames still 
licking the black sides of the huge Pennsylvania, 
and the graceful form of * my ship,' the Merrimac, 
now burning to the water's edge. 

*' The Confederate Government was quick to 
take advantage of the situation. The navy yard 
was rebuilt, and the dry dock repaired. The plan 
of rebuilding the Merrimac was proposed, but was 
found impracticable on account of the expense, 
although her hull was almost uninjured. Lieu- 
tenant John Mercer Brooks and Joseph L. Porter 
then presented a plan for converting her into a 
floating battery, which was accepted. A high 
fence was built around the dock and the work 
began. Great secrecy was maintained, but I was 
able to gain admission two or three times, and to 
look with wondering eyes on the strange struc- 
12 



178 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

ture. The hull was cut down to the water-line, a 
low deck was built out at the bow and stern, 
heavy oak timbers were set up like the rafters of 
a house inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees, 
and these were covered with several thicknesses 
of railroad iron, which extended into the water. 
When finished, the vessel looked like a long, black 
roof with the top cut off so as to be flat. Around 
this ran a light iron rail, a wide funnel rose about 
the middle, and a low pyramidal structure pierced 
with small sight-holes served to protect the pilot. 
As I recall her, she carried two guns forward and 
three aft on each side, and one or two at both 
bow and stern. She had no mast, except a short 
one at the stern for the flag. The bow was 
pointed without curving, and an oak ram, pro- 
tected by a heavy iron shoe, extended forward 
under water. Her name was changed to the Vir- 
ginia, but every one spoke of her still as the Merri- 
mac. One day it was announced that she was 
ready to go out, and the next that she was a fail- 
ure. For weeks reports of the most conflicting 
character were in circulation, and no one could 
find out anything definite. 

" The report of her failure had, however, gen- 
erally been credited, when on Saturday morning, 
March 8, 1862, the news came that she was going 
out. It spread like wildfire, and soon every one 
in the city was wrought up to the highest pitch 
of excitement. Slowly she steamed down the 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR 179 

river, looking like a floating shed, and with her 
went the Jamestown, the Patrick Henry, and 
several other vessels that made up the Confeder- 
ate fleet. The town was wild ; whistles blew, bells 
rang, guns were fired, people shouted, the air was 
full of flags and hats and cries. Every one who 
could do so hastened toward Sewell's Point to 
see the expected battle. Vehicles of every de- 
scription were pressed into service, and those 
who could not ride set out to walk through the 
sand. 

** The Congress and the Cumberland rode at 
anchor a few hundred yards from shore, and not 
far away the Minnesota and the Roanoke. These 
vessels were a part of the United States block- 
ading fleet. As the Merrimac drew near, we on 
the shore could see the preparations making on 
the wooden ships to receive their strange foe. 
The guns of the Congress roared out, and those 
of the Cumberland joined in the chorus, but 
although fired at short range, their shot fell harm- 
less from the iron sides of the Merrimac. The 
flash of cannon, and the exploding shells, were 
clearly seen when the smoke would lift. 

** As if in disdain of the puny weapons turned 
against her, the ironclad went slowly on till she 
seemed to bury herself in the side of the Cumber- 
land. She had rammed the big ship. The guns 
roared again and again, but without effect, and 
lurching forward, the Cumberland sank in fifty 



i8o A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

feet of water, her masthead, from which floated the 
flag, remaining visible above the waves. 

" The Merrimac then turned her attack upon 
the Congress, and the other Confederate ships 
began to engage in the battle. The Congress 
soon ran aground and was practically helpless 
against the tremendous fire that was turned against 
her. About four o'clock her flag was hauled 
down, and she was boarded by a Confederate 
officer. Later she was discovered to be on fire in 
several places, and, her magazine exploding, she 
was destroyed. The Minnesota was next assailed. 
She also ran aground, and the Merrimac could not 
reach her, but the wooden fleet poured in shot and 
shell, inflicting serious damage. As night was now 
drawing on, the Confederate fleet withdrew, having 
carried everything before it. 

" Early Sunday morning the Merrimac again 
turned seaward, evidently intending to attack the 
Minnesota. I hurried down to a point on the 
south side of the bay, from which I could get an 
unobstructed view of whatever might take place. 
The Monitor had arrived the night before. I 
had never seen the strange-looking craft, but the 
minute I laid eyes on it I knew what it was. 
Young as I was, I realized that I was about to 
witness the most remarkable naval battle that was 
ever fought up to that time — the first encounter 
between ironclads. 

** The Merrimac was the pride of my heart. 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR i8i 

When I saw the Monitor I wondered what the 
result of the fight would be. With a glass in my 
hand I shivered with excitement as they ap- 
proached each other. The two strangest vessels 
on the sea were face to face. A cheese-box on a 
plank, all painted black, not inaccurately describes 
the Monitor's appearance. She was much smaller 
and more active than the Confederate vessel, and 
carried only two guns, but these could be pointed 
in any direction by the revolving of her turret. 
Quickly they engaged, and the fight soon became 
furious. 

" The guns on the Merrimac poured forth 
broadside after broadside. The shot and shells 
glanced off the turret of the Monitor and fell 
harmless into the water. In the same way, the 
heaviest shot from the Monitor's guns bounded 
off the slanting sides of the Merrimac, like foul 
balls from a player's bat. Sometimes it looked 
as if they were in actual contact. Even then the 
shells did no harm of any consequence to either 
vessel. 

" The Minnesota joined in the conflict, and 
fired her broadside of fifty guns into the Merri- 
mac. It seemed to me that every shot struck, 
but they all fell harmless from the invulnerable 
sides of the ironclad. The battle was waged with 
terrific rapidity of action. Now the two craft 
seemed joined together, now the Monitor would 
run around the Merrimac, as if trying to find a 



i82 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

weak spot. The sound of the cannonading was 
deafening, even at my distance. 

*' The Merrimac presently withdrew. The 
crowd on the shore trembled and asked what the 
matter could be. Was she defeated ? There was 
only a moment's suspense, but it seemed like an 
hour. The answer came soon. Suddenly swing- 
ing around, the Merrimac paused for a minute, 
then steamed with full head against the Monitor. 
The little ' cheese-box ' staggered from the blow, 
but soon righted and continued firing, practically 
unharmed. When the Cumberland was rammed, 
the iron shoe that covered the Merrimac's ram 
was torn off, and so she had nothing but the oak 
foundation to oppose to the iron sides of the 
Monitor. 

" This was about the last incident of the fight. 
Shortly afterward the two vessels drew apart, the 
smoke lifted, and neither of them showed any 
disposition to renew the battle. The Monitor 
headed toward Fortress Monroe, and the Merri- 
mac steamed toward the Minneapolis, as if to 
continue the fight, but passed on without attack- 
ing her, and rested under the guns of the Confed- 
erate battery at Craney Island. 

" Norfolk was evacuated by the Confederates 
two months later, the navy yard was burned, and 
many ships were destroyed. An effort was made 
to get the Merrimac to Richmond, but it was im- 
possible to take her over the bar at the entrance 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR 183 

of the James River. Just at daylight, Sunday 
morning, May nth, we in Norfolk were awakened 
by an explosion whose meaning all quickly 
guessed. The Merrimac had been blown up by 
her commander, Josiah Tattnall, and so effectively 
destroyed that no fragments sufficient to reveal 
the details of her construction were ever recov- 
ered. 

** The Monitor was lost in a storm off Cape 
Hatteras at midnight of December 31 of the same 
year (1862). The two ironclads, which in a single 
day had changed the face of war and revolution- 
ized the navies of the world, thus found early 
graves. ' ' 



XXIII 

St. Louis. — Beautiful Residences. — Forest Park. — The 
Levee. — Alton. — Old Friends. — Legend of the Piasa. — 
The Confluence of the Rivers. — The Union Depot. — 
The Car of the International Correspondence Schools, 
— Crossing the Bridge. 

We reached St. Louis in the early morning 
hour, after a pleasant night's rest on our good car 

Lucania. " The country approaching St. Louis 
looks rich and luxuriant, with fine trees, and well- 
estabhshed country places. The effect of an older 
culture was at once apparent, as we approached 
this great city of the West. 

Our car anchorage was in the magnificent Union 
Station, a very large place, indeed, and excel- 
lently managed. Some of our party again took 
to the street cars, and in that democratic fashion, 
saw much of the town. 

At a later period in the day, some of us had a 
lovely carriage ride through the best residential 
portion of the city. 

We were more than surprised at the beautiful 



BEAUTIFUL RESIDENCES 185 

streets, lined with spacious palaces, each in its 
own separate grounds. To a New Yorker's eyes, 
this roominess of arrangement, was especially 
attractive. Charming effects were produced by 
beautiful gardens in the middle of certain secluded 
streets, with fountains and flowers, all kept in 
beautiful order. The private grounds around the 
separate houses were in like good shape. All 
looked sumptuous, and in the best possible taste. 

To drive into one of these '* Places" through 
the ornamental gates, and see the richness of the 
central parterre, the well-kept streets at each side, 
and the generous sidewalks and rich verdure sur- 
rounding the houses, was a new sensation. The 
general verdict was, that even in New York, there 
was nothing like that. 

All this urban development is the work of the 
last fifteen or twenty years. Such communal and 
united display was not the custom of the early 
French settlers. They loved the enclosed privacy 
of their own grounds, as in New Orleans, but 
times have changed, and the dwellers in St. Louis 
have changed with them. 

We drove also in Forest Park, a really beautiful 
place, with a spaciousness truly magnificent. 

Our stay in St. Louis was barely a day. We 
took a glimpse at the river front, once a busy 



i86 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

scene with its fleet of steamboats running from 
the northwestern wilds, by way of the Missouri 
and its tributaries, and down to the Gulf of 
Mexico, by way of the Mississippi. But the 
glory of the steamboating days is gone forever. 
The iron horse now does the greater part of the 
carrying trade, and great railroad bridges span the 
Father of Waters at several points, and more are 
coming. 

I took a little independent trip from St. Louis 
by rail, to Alton, on the Illinois side. It just 
took three hours ; one to get there, one there, and 
one to return. 

It was many long years since I resided in Alton, 
and it was with a sort of fearfulness that I made 
the excursion. Would any one remember me ? 
Were my friends yet living ? And so on. I 
crossed the great railroad bridge over the Missis- 
sippi, and up on the east bank to Alton, which 
lies just above the confluence of the two great 
rivers. I passed through, on the Illinois side, 
what seemed a continuous series of manufacturing 
settlements, all emphasizing the vast development 
of industrial enterprises in the West. 

On arriving at Alton, the changed aspect of all 
was most apparent. The river front — ^where in 
old times I had seen the steamboats line up, and 



OLD FRIENDS 187 

watched their loading and unloading, picturesque 
by day or by night, but especially attractive when 
seen under the glare of torches, and enlivened by 
the songs of the negro hands — was now, almost, 
unused. The railroad tracks dominated every- 
thing, down to the water's edge. 

I wandered off at random through the streets, 
until I came to the old familiar Alton Bank, which 
looked exactly the same. I entered to inquire 
after friends, and as the clerk was obligingly giving 
me information, I asked him if he knew a former 

clerk, Mr. W , who was there years before. 

'' Oh, yes," said he; ** he is now our president." 
By this time a pleasant face looked fixedly at me, 
and, in a moment, an outstretched hand grasped 
mine, and my old friend was calling me by name, 
and we were once more young men again, when, 
in the old time, music was our bond of fellowship, 
and all that that involves. 

While we were speaking — the bank president 
and myself — a lady, with her little girl, entered the 
office, and aga«in my name was called. " I have 
been following you in the street," she said. " I 
knew it must be you, but I could scarcely believe 
my eyes." It was the daughter of a dear friend 
of years long gone, and her daughter was by her 
side. 



i88 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

How lovely it all seemed to be thus recognized, 
and to bind together afresh the ties of years that 
had fled ! 

But my hour in Alton was almost up. I could 
only look at the outside of the dear old church 
where I once worshipped. My friend of the bank 
brought me, to the train, as a little gift of remem- 
brance, a book called ** Poems of the Piasa," by 
Frank C. Riehl. It contained also a number of 
other kindred poems of Western life. 

The Piasa was a dreadful, winged monster, 
which inhabited the banks of the Mississippi at 
Alton in ages past. A note in the volume I re- 
ceived might here be quoted. It is as follows: 

** The region along the shores on both sides of 
the Mississippi, between the points of the con- 
fluence of the Illinois and Missouri rivers with the 
Father of Waters, is particularly rich in legendary 
stories concerning the life and habits of the pow- 
erful tribes of Indians who were the original own- 
ers of these fertile valley lands. Along the bluffs 
on the Illinois side are numberless burial places 
where the bones of thousands of * the first Ameri- 
cans ' repose, while the valleys and prairie-stretches 
for some distance back from the river, afford con- 
stant reminders of their presence and handiwork 
in the dim ages of the past. 

** From the time of the earliest frontier expedi- 



LEGEND OF THE PIASA 189 

tions, this locality has been conspicuous among 
the chronicles for the number and peculiar charm 
of the folk-lore stories handed down from one 
generation to another, and held in almost sacred 
reverence by the Indians. And, among these, 
dating from the famous expedition of Marquette, 
none is more striking and interesting than that of 
the Piasa Bird. That this was more than a mere 
myth is attested by the evidence of many early 
settlers, who got the story in minute detail from 
the Indians themselves; and by the painting that 
remained upon the face of the perpendicular bluffs 
within the present limits of the city of Alton, un- 
til quarried away just about the close of the first 
half of this century." 

The Indian legend referred to is of a fearful, 
winged monster, who swooped down upon his 
prey, making his aery on the great cliffs at Alton. 
The tribes were in deadly terror of this great 
creature, whose fearful power seized their bravest 
warriors, as well as their most beautiful maidens, 
in his deadly talons. At last, a chief, named 
Ouatoga, conceived the bold design to place him- 
self in the way of the monster, a sacrifice for the 
safety of his race ; while twelve of the best archers, 
should lie concealed near by, and slay the monster 
with their united arrows, as he rose in air with his 
prey. This, the legend says, was done, and a 



I90 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

rude picture of the monster might be seen on the 
bluffs at Alton until recent times. 

I cannot help thinking, however, that the story- 
is, after all, a myth of the dreaded tornado so fre- 
quent in the West. I have a photograph of such 
a storm, taken in Iowa, and the huge, involving 
clouds, spread out like wings, and, the descending 
funnel or waterspout, reaching to the earth, de- 
stroying all it touches, exactly resembles a huge 
monster bird, in awful and sudden flight, devour- 
ing everything before it. The discharge of the 
arrows at the monster, thus killing it, may be a 
hint of the well-known fact, that any sudden im- 
pact upon a whirlwind, in its funnel-shaped mo- 
tion, will destroy its vibrations and hence its 
progress. A rifle-shot, sent into a whirling dust 
pillar on the great plains, will reduce the dreadful 
thing at once to a clatter of falling dust and peb- 
bles, and a dead heap of harmless stuff. So much 
for a theory anyway. 

I returned to St. Louis by the Missouri side, 
having with me my lady friend and her little 
daughter. The route took us over the great 
bridges which span the two rivers just above their 
confluence. It was grand in its effect, to pass over 
two such great streams coming close together 
from their distant sources, soon to mingle in one 



THE UNION DEPOT 191 

mighty torrent, emptying itself more than a thou- 
sand miles away, into the Gulf of Mexico. 

It was all a sort of enchanted excursion, waking 
up many memories of a past, so far removed from 
the present hour. 

Our train brought us into the great Union 
Station, from which I had set out three hours 
before. 

While in this splendid station I had the good for- 
tune to have a long chat with the superintendent 
thereof. He tried to tell me, I should say, he 
did tell me, of its wonderful construction, its great 
extent, its complex machinery, its electrical ap- 
pliances, its vast detail of business. I have only 
an impression of the sweet gentleness which so 
patiently explained all to me, and of the myriad 
ramifications which I could see, could but dimly 
understand, and vaguely remember. He has my 
thanks and grateful memory for his kindness. 

We also saw in the St. Louis depot a thor- 
oughly interesting American affair. It was an 
educational car, run by two or three bright young 
fellows, who quite captivated us by their intelli- 
gence and spirit. They were occupying a beauti- 
ful private car, fitted up as an office and a dwell- 
ing; and were travelling over the country in the 
interest of a great institution called " The Inter- 



192 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

national Correspondence Schools." It opened up 
before one a marvellous vista of business energy 
and splendid results. A circular, which we 
brought away with us, stated that instruction was 
given by this method in 42 courses, to some 
40,000 students in 137 States and countries. The 
inside of the circular contained ten headings, and 
each heading had four lines of detailed informa- 
tion, looking like quatrains of poetry. I take at 
random one of them, as a sample, under the 
heading 

SUPERIORITY 

Students can be taught wherever the mails can go. 
Each student regulates his own hours of study. 
Written lessons qualify for written examinations. 
The method cultivates memory, brevity, accuracy and 
independence. 

It really did seem all like poetry, full of re- 
splendent possibilities, to see the specimen books 
produced by the students; and, above all, it was 
poetical to see those young men in charge, so very 
young and yet so full of confidence, so intelligent, 
and so keen. They were at once at their ease 
with our party, and ere we left St. Louis, at ten 
o'clock at night, they visited us, and with man- 
dolin music, and college songs, we wiled away a 
pleasant hour. 



CROSSING THE BRIDGE 193 

At ten o'clock we departed from St. Louis, 
passing through the tunnel, and out on the great 
bridge, from whence we looked at the mighty 
flood of the Father of Waters, far beneath us, re- 
flecting in its turbid depths the lights of St. Louis, 
which were soon hidden from our sight, as we 
rolled out into the darkness, over the prairies of 
Illinois. 

13 



XXIV 

Through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. — Columbus. — The Beautiful 
Station. — Church Service. — Nearing Home. — Parting 
Thoughts. — Our Amusements. — To Ethel Asleep. — A 
Parting Wish. — Pilgrimages of Patriotism. 

It was well on in Sunday morning when we 
reached our next stopping-place, Columbus, Ohio, 
where we stayed until Monday forenoon. 

The morning light, as we journeyed on in the 
early hours, showed us the smiling country in its 
Sabbath rest. It was all such a contrast to the 
far West, and the Pacific Slope, and not an un- 
grateful one. 

We were passing through Ohio, which, one 
might say, is no longer the West, but the centre of 
our land. It is a glorious country, rich, fertile, 
and prosperous-looking. 

Columbus quite pleased us, by the evidences of 
its bustling activities and improvements ; as well 
as by a certain old-fashioned dignity and state. 
It is the governmental seat of Ohio, and has some 



CHURCH SERVICE 195 

quite respectable public buildings, all done in the 
American-Greek-Classic style — rows of pillars, 
pediments, and all that — which, I confess, I like 
better than the strained effort after effect, seen in 
some more modern structures. 

A new piece of architecture at Columbus, how- 
ever, the beautiful railroad station, was charming. 
It is full of beauty, like a rich Italian palace, all 
warm with golden carvings, yellow marble walls, 
and mosaic pavements. 

The interior effect of the waiting-rooms was ex- 
quisite, with the arched and coffered roof, and the 
graceful outlines of all. 

On Sunday night we all attended church, where 
we heard a good sermon, and joined, with keen 
relish, in a fine choral service, rendered by a well- 
trained surpliced choir of men and boys. The 
leader of the choir evidently had a heart for the 
noble effects of Gregorian music, while not such a 
purist as to rule out all modern compositions. In 
this he was right. Gregorian music is like salt, 
really necessary as a healthful adjunct in church 
song, but too much of it is as bad as none at all. 

It was toward evening when we reached Pitts- 
burg, where we made but a short stay; and in 
the early morning hour we were once more at the 
Pennsylvania Depot in Jersey City, where we took 



196 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

reluctant leave of each other and our good car 
" Lucania." 

Sleep had refreshed us, as we flew, all uncon- 
scious, through the splendid scenery of the Alle- 
ghanies. But what were such mountains to us 
now, who had seen the Rockies; and what was 
the Horseshoe Curve, compared to the daring en- 
gineering of Colorado railroads! Nothing. We 
were more than satisfied with all we had seen. 

But before closing this scattering record of our 
** Flight in Spring," surely it will be well to look 
back, once more, at its pleasant hours, and sweet 
companionship. 

In those six weeks of our trip, equal almost to 
a lifetime of contact, under ordinary circum- 
stances, how well we got to know each other. 
Surely the more each knew of each, the more did 
trifling fault fade away, and clear goodness come 
out into pleasing prominence. Was it not so ? 

So that when we came to part at the station, it 
was with a regret for that parting, and a hope 
that friendships were cemented on our journey, 
which nothing ever could dissever. 

Let us think, too, with gratitude of the un- 
wearying attention given to our comfort by Mr. 
Payson, in whose charge were all the details of 
our transportation, involving so much of most 



OUR AMUSEMENTS 197 

serious importance, as well for our safety, as our 
comfort. How wonderful to think that our eight 
thousand miles of travel was all conducted like 
clockwork, with entire reliability, and precision, 
from point to point, across the continent and 
back again, without hitch or accident. 

Then we must remember the Pullman employees, 
to whom the whole journey was but an episode, 
in lives of such journeys ; and yet how enthusias- 
tic and attentive they were, at all times. 

And we must remember Delia and Charles, in 
their sphere of usefulness, ever ready and willing 
to carry out the hospitable intentions of our good 
host and hostess. 

It is all over, our " Flight in Spring," with all 
its pleasant incidents. Some of the sweetest mo- 
ments were, when we turned in upon ourselves 
for amusement and pleasure, at the evening hours, 
when formal sightseeing was over; or in those 
hours of travel, when the eyes refused to gaze 
longer on the flying landscape. 

Then came the Nonsense Verses, and the 
Stories, and the Songs, and the Machine Poetry, 
and all the fun. Shall we not gather up some of 
those trifles, as worthy of preservation in our 
record ? Yes, certainly we will. 

We will first start out with the machine poetry. 



198 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Rhymes were furnished, which were these dreadful 
collocations, ** give, live, dove, love, merry, 
cherry, go, slow, tease, squeeze, muddle, fuddle." 
A hopeless list surely. 

Dear Fred, who said he could not write poetry, 
evolved the following: 

POEM BY FRED 

And when a pretty orange he did give, 
He thought it was too sweet to live, 
So he gave it to his dove 
To ever sustain their love. 

One day when all was merry, 
He gave to her a cherry ; 
And he said she should not go, 
For fear it would be slow. 

First he began to tease, 
Then he began to squeeze, 
Until there was a muddle — 
Soon afterwards a fuddle. 

This realistic effort was received with rounds of 
applause. The next poetic effort on the procrus- 
tean rhymes was by Miss Hayden, as follows: 

POEM BY MISS HAYDEN 

Oh, why should I give. 
Or expect me to live, 
Wheayou called me a dove. 
Yet you now cease to love ? 



OUR AMUSEMENTS 199 

I once was so merry, 
My lips like a cherry, 
I wept when you'd go, 
And my heart beat so slow. 

Then at once you would tease, 
And kiss me, and squeeze, — 
But — my brain's in a muddle, 
And — you in a fuddle. 

This effort, too, was greeted with approbation, 
and its tenderness duly appreciated. 

But the Nonsense Verses were the best fun. 
One would shout out a line, an additional line 
would come from some one else, and by the time 
the whole thing was complete, it would be hard 
to discriminate as to who was the author. 

Here is one hurled at me: 

There was a Canon named Knowles, 
Whose mission it was to save souls ; 

When out on this trip. 

He said, " Let them rip, 
We'll save them all yet from the coals." 

Some of our young ladies were deeply inter- 
ested in the sailor boys at war, and for their bene- 
fit this nonsense had wing: 

There was a young lady named Harding, 
Whose sweetheart, the nation was guarding. 

The rumor of war. 

Went to her heart's core 
For fear he'd be lost while bombarding. 



200 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

These verses, too, have a maritime flavor: 

There was a young lady of nerve, 
Who bet on the Naval Reserve. 

She got a flat cap 

Like that of her chap, 
And said, " This our love will preserve." 

We had lots of others, and ever so many good 
stories, but it is time to end. This last must suf- 
fice for the Nonsense Verses: 

There was a young lady en route. 
Who wanted to go on a toot, 

So she jumped off the ca — ah 

When no one was ne — ah. 
And feasted on candy and fruit. 

This was the favorite refrain of all, for its reck- 
less suggestions, and the special intonations of its 
third and fourth lines. Its echoes would sound 
out in the most unexpected connections — 

"So she jumped off the ca — ah 
When no one was ne — ah," 

and then would come a merry peal of laughter. 

Sometimes the laughter even, would cease, and, 
we were all so free and unaffected, that siestas 
were taken, quite unceremoniously, when silence 
would settle down upon our party. 

In such a quiet interval, one of our fair sleepers 
inspired the following lines, as she lay at rest, on 



TO ETHEL ASLEEP 201 

the couch in the dining-room. This is what the 
poet said : 

TO ETHEL ASLEEP 

Our car glides on with giddy speed, 

But Ethel feels no motion ; 
Her soul and body take no heed, 

Wrapt still, in sleep's deep ocean. 

And as I gaze on her sweet face, 

So placid, true and tender ; 
The wish for her I fain would trace 

Is this — May Heaven defend her ! 

'Mid all the whirling cares of life. 
May peaceful rest come to her ; 

And sleep, no matter what the strife, 
Be ever near to woo her. 

With some such wish as this for all of us, I 
would like to close the record of this " Flight in 
Spring." 

When spring, and summer, and autumn, and 
winter, will for us have forever fled away, then 
may we all find comfort, after life's wanderings 
are over, in this restful thought, as our great jour- 
ney shall end: 

"He giveth His beloved sleep." 

But other thoughts also come to me, as I recall 
the splendid advantages of such a trip as our 
" Flight in Spring." It was a revelation, to 



202 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

pass from ocean to ocean, over our own broad 
land. It filled one's soul with enthusiasm, as one 
thought of the opportunities, the responsibilities, 
the duties, and the prospects of our citizenship. 

It made me long that such " Flights in Spring," 
or in any season, might be more widely enjoyed, 
so that many more might realize the immense 
splendor and power of our great land. 

For such purposes I would wish that there were 
instituted ** Pilgrimages of Patriotism," which 
would bring representative men, from ocean to 
ocean, from seashore to centre, and from centre 
to seashore, at stated and solemn periods; thus 
emphasizing the sense of national citizenship, and 
the splendid and indissoluble union of our States. 

I have read that among the Zufii Indians it was 
a sacred law that some of their tribe should, each 
year, pour the waters of the Pacific into those of 
the Atlantic. The task was accomplished, despite 
of all difficulties, arising from tribal contests, or 
opposing forces. It was a symbol of union, touch- 
ing as it was simple, and might again be revived 
among us, to emphasize the glorious bond of citi- 
zenship in this our land; a bond, which we felt 
continually, through our eight thousand miles of 
travel, in our ** Flight in Spring." 



ITINERARY 

Lv. New York Wed. Apr. 13 ... . 9.30 a.m. 

Arr. Thomasville. . .Thu. " 14. ... 2.35 p.m. 

Lv. " ....Sat. " 16.... 2.45 " 

Arr. New Orleans.... Sun. " 17 . . ■ ■ 9-^o " 

Lv. " " Mon. " 18 8.40 " 

Arr. San Antonio Tue. " 19 5-3o " 

Lv. " " ....Wed. " 20.... 5-15 " 

Arr. El Paso Thu. " 21.... 3-45 " 

Lv. " " Fri. " 22.... 2.35 " 

Arr. Los Angeles ....Sat. " 23.... 9.20 " 

Lv. " " Tue. " 26.... 2.00 " 

Arr. San Diego " " " • • • • 6.20 " 

Lv. " " Thu. " 28.... 7.00 A.M. 

Arr. Los Angeles ... . " " "....n.iS " 

L^ .. << " "".... 4.00 P.M. 

Arr. Santa Barbara . . " " " 8.30 

Lv. " " ..Sat. " 30.... 8.15 A.M. 

Arr. Brentwood Sun. May i . . . . 9.00 " 

Lv. " Mon. " 2 9.47 " 

Arr. San Francisco... " " ".... 12.15 p.m. 
Lv. " " ...Fri. " 6.... 10.40 A.M. 

Arr. Palo Alto " " "....ii.59 " 

Lv. " " '•••• 4.44 P-M. 

Arr. San Jos6 " " "•••• 5-20 

Lv. " " Mon. " 9 11.00 A.M. 



204 A FLIGHT IN SPRING 

Arr. Santa Cruz Men. May 9 1.45 p.m. 

Lv. " " " " " 4.35 " 

Arr. Del Monte " " " 6.30 " 

Lv. " " Wed. " II 6.51 " 

Arr. San Jose " " " . . . . 9.07 A.M. 

Lv. " " " " " 1. 15 P.M. 

Arr. Oakland Pier. . . " " ".... 3.45 " 

Lv. " " ...Thu. " 12 8.37A.M. 

Arr. Ogden Fri. " 13 5.00 P.M. 

Lv. " " " " .... 6.20 " 

Arr. Salt Lake City . . " " " 7.30 " 

Lv. " " " . .Sat. " 14 7.40 " 

Arr. Colorado Sp'gs .Sun. " 15 6.46 " 

Lv. " " .Mon. " 16 5.00 " 

Arr. Manitou " " " 6.45 " 

Lv. " Tue. " 17 7.07 " 

Arr. Denver " " " 9.15 •• 

Lv. " Thu. " 19 7.00 " 

Arr. Kansas City Fri. " 20 6.00 " 

Lv. " "...." " " 9.00 " 

Arr. St. Louis Sat. " 21 7. 10 A.M. 

Lv. " " " " " 10.00 P.M. 

Arr. Columbus Sun. " 22 1 1.20 A.M. 

Lv. " Mon. " 23.... II. 35 " 

Arr. New York Tue. " 24 7.43 " 



NOV 2 1698 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 







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